Animal documentary cameras follow the daily activities of a mob of 12" high Meerkats living in the African Kalihari desert. Alpha female Flower, her mate, Zaphod, socially inept Uncle Yousarian, slutty daughter Mozart, and the teenagers and pups make up a family unit known as the Whiskers. Their 3 square miles of forage territory must be defended from other mobs such as the Lazuli and Commandos. Leadership is dependent on strong and often ruthless decisions that mean only the alpha female may bear pups, and the fate of the group's breeding age adults becomes a series of illicit one night stands with rival non-related meerkats, and hard learned lessons in meerkat morality that leaves younger wanton daughters ousted for pregnancy. Each meerkat has become a star in the series but some more than other such as loyal Shakespeare who may have died battling the Lazuli raiders while babysitting the infant pups.
Keeping up with the numerous yearly litters of four or five pups means the size of the Whiskers group fluctuates as its members stray, die, or disappear after encounters and fierce battles often to the death. It is a dire existence in which family loyalty is reinforced by mutual grooming, scent marking, and hunting juicy huge scorpions and centipedes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yummy! And, the meerkats are hunted as well by prey birds and other beasties of the desert environment.
Filmed by Cambridge University for over ten years, and narrated by actor Sean Austin, the family life of small weasel-like creatures takes on all the drama and humor of reality TV shows without having to design dresses or cook gourmet dinners. This is real survivor TV at its best and the often harsh reality of life and death of the charming and adorable wild creatures brings to the screen a complex and enormously endearing story of animal behavior.
Keeping up with the numerous yearly litters of four or five pups means the size of the Whiskers group fluctuates as its members stray, die, or disappear after encounters and fierce battles often to the death. It is a dire existence in which family loyalty is reinforced by mutual grooming, scent marking, and hunting juicy huge scorpions and centipedes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yummy! And, the meerkats are hunted as well by prey birds and other beasties of the desert environment.
Filmed by Cambridge University for over ten years, and narrated by actor Sean Austin, the family life of small weasel-like creatures takes on all the drama and humor of reality TV shows without having to design dresses or cook gourmet dinners. This is real survivor TV at its best and the often harsh reality of life and death of the charming and adorable wild creatures brings to the screen a complex and enormously endearing story of animal behavior.