Why EVERY zoo has meerkats.

[@bluetannery1527]

Background music is a bit loud

[@neilchace1858]

I know a lot of Zoo enthusiasts that dislike meerkats do to how common they are in zoos, and would rather see rarer mongoose species take their place, however I tend to view meerkats as an awesome choice for a zoo exhibit! Not only are they an easily recognizable, popular species, but they have high educational value and take up relatively little space. While I don't think there's any such thing as a "perfect" zoo animal, meerkats are a rather compelling option for a zoo looking for a popular, relatively straightforward species to keep that doesn't have large spatial demands.

[@zooblether]

Definitely! Zoo enthusiasts/purists definitely want different things from the general public, there’s definitely a balance to be struck! There’s a lot of mammals and birds especially which could definitely have more of a place within collections. Reptiles are another area where so many members of the public will just see “a lizard” so often zoos get the same generic representative species, which is a shame. Will definitely take a look at the representation of “different” species in the future!

[@johnsnow5125]

Penguins, too (the smaller ones, not the emperors) . In Europe, at least, zoos like to organise a penguin group stroll through the park once per day. In the Vienna zoo, they have free-roaming pheasants that jump in and out of the accessible enclosures, like the one for penguins

[@2000mogsy]

As you say, Meerkats just work. Yes they’re common, but everyone loves them, and I’ve found that they’re one animal that are usually always out and about, exploring their environment, making people want to spend more time watching them, and perhaps to even encourage visitors to revisit enclosures where animals were otherwise hidden away earlier on, like a Tiger for example. So this could also be a marketing thing to keep visitors at the zoo for longer.

[@zooblether]

Yeah, as flippant as you could be about meerkats, the dwell time even at their enclosure is probably higher than many species. Certainly a good argument for similar, rarer species having a lot of similar traits which could have a similar effect but also expose visitors to new species, but as you say, “meerkats just work”!

[@LoveForCrowsWildlife]

I love how at the end, all the letters form to become “Suricata”, the genus meerkats belong to.

[@MatthewAbbottHighskies]

The music is distractingly loud in the mix

[@simonj3413]

They’re fairly common in the US, but seemingly not to the nauseating degree as the UK

[@simonmcglary]

While meerkats may be everywhere they can be looked on as a way explaining that animals are easier to protect when we understand the benefit in saving them!

[@zooblether]

Absolutely! 👍

[@AvB.83]

Same seems to be true (at least for the range of zoos I visited in central europe) for the African Penguin. Often with really low efford, crowded enclosures and rarely more than knee-deep water. It seems like just with meerkats, you get a lot of "omg, they're so cute" for your money, people are used to seeing them in small enclosures so they take up little space, are readily available... sure, you could add that area to a neighbouring exhibit (and 99% of the visitors wouldn't notice), but then you'd have 1 less species, and it's one that a lot of people really like.

[@canismalice]

why is no ome talking about the 'suricata' at the end!! i thought it was so cool

[@EnzymeMonkey]

Here in India Meerkats in zoos are not common. I saw some at Indore zoo (far away from my city) and I really liked watching them! In India, crested porcupines and jungle cats seem to take up the "seen in all zoos" niche. Recently the officers rescued a Malayan Tapir from being smuggled and they kept it in Alipore Zoo and I went there in the scorching heat just to see it take a cute nap!! I would really like to see you review Indian Zoos. We live our animals ❤

[@abdulazizrex]

I’m currently studying for a masters degree in Kuala Lumpur; meerkats are a very common site in pet stores.

[@tlst94]

Because of Timon that's why. He popularized the meerkat species. lol

[@NitroIndigo]

Simples!

[@Kabbaway]

Also, Happy World Meerkat Day (July 3rd)! 💚I'm obsessed with meerkats, and actually like traveling to different zoos to see as many of them as possible (eg some might have pups on display when others don't, or offer encounters where others don't and each zoo tends to do interactive stuff differently). Recently, I traveled interstate ( live in Australia) to Adelaide Zoo to see Snowy, a meerkat with vitiligo who is the only documented white meerkat. I probably wouldn't have traveled that far for regular meerkats alone and instead would've see them as a side excursion for a trip of an unrelated purpose, but the chance to see such a rare animal was my primary reason to travel so far and spend so much money. While meerkats are least concerned, I hear there's still issues related to them being especially susceptible to tuberculosis, as well as expanding farmland with livestock which crush their burrow systems and limit the big territory groups need to sustain themselves, and of course changing weather patterns making rain rarer. Like Simon McGlary said here, sometimes it's just good to preserve common animals as well to preempt their decline in the wild.

[@zooblether]

I quite like checking at the meerkats when I happen to be at a collection too! Possibly due to being family groups, diet or enclosure setup you can sometimes actually see differences between the meerkats at two zoos which I’ve always thought was quite cool!

[@Kabbaway]

@@zooblether for sure! 😄

[@spoonspork]

i just started binging all your videos and i love them very much!! id love to see a series on specific animals needs and some good exihbits and organizations for them and those kinds of things! i beg of you to make some slightly longer videos bc yt is pushing them more rn i hear and i love them and i love you

[@zooblether]

Thanks for the ideas! Not sure on longer though, takes me long enough to go from idea to video at this length haha

[@TheGBZard]

For me personally giraffes, lions and tigers are some of the most common zoo animals, though tbh the amount of zoos I’ve visited could be counted on one of two hands. I’m still glad to see those animals though as they are still interesting.

[@minthantlin9168]

Zoo enthusiasts: meerkats are found in every zoo Yangon Zoo: Allow me to introduce myself. Animals that are popular in zoos in other countries but are not found in my local zoo: Lemurs Hyenas Meerkats Sloths Capybaras Giraffes ( they used to have one but it died ) Penguins Lions ( they had one lioness the last time I visited ) Jaguars Lizards Cheetahs Gorillas Wolves Flamingos Owls Giant Tortoises

[@sourpatchsyd]

Suricata, nice

[@zooblether]

I’ve been waiting ten months for this 👏🎉

[@MrNibal01]

Not sure why the algorithm proposed me your video, but it's very qualitative! Surprised to see so few subscribers and viewers as of now! One thing though, not sure you need the music, or at least not that loud when you are speaking :)

[@zooblether]

Thanks for the feedback! Music/audio is my next “thing to improve” for my next video. Still working out what works best, and in editing my latest video I realised I was using music really just to add something/literally anything to avoid just relying on my voice, rather than it doing anything for the points I was making. New script is trying to work relevant music/silence in where it’s more necessary/impactful. I appreciate your comment a lot, good to hear that people have some of the same issues I do, and that I can hopefully improve on those moving forward!

[@JTSquirrel]

I hope you do this with more species! Maybe small mammals since they seem like your specialty

[@zooblether]

Could do! There’s so many often overlooked species too that are worth highlighting too!

[@davidwesley2525]

The Oregon Zoo did have Meerkats less than a decade ago , Not anymore.

[@zooblether]

Interesting. Did they swap for another small mammal or redevelop the area completely?

[@davidwesley2525]

@@zooblether African Crested Porcupines Now live in the former Meerkat enclosure. 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 The Habitat was originally for Banded Mongooses. 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 The Only Mongooses the Oregon Zoo now has are Dwarf Mongooses since 2009 , in an Exhibit that features African Carnivores. Lions , Cheetahs , African Painted Dogs. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@zooblether]

Just checked out that mongoose/caracal exhibit. Looks interesting !

[@Blackratsnake]

I've never seen any at the Columbus zoo. But ifs kinda the only zoo I've been to.

[@capybara455]

Not every zoo has them columbus and san diego zoo safari park don't have them

[@zooblether]

Yeah there’s definitely exceptions! But here in the UK at least, they’re the go to for every zoo small or large!

[@davidwesley2525]

@@zooblether The Oregon Zoo in Portland Oregon did have Meerkats about a decade ago , Not anymore.

[@LosefaMuasau-fc9tx]

My zoo where I live is prob the only zoo that doesn’t 😭

[@zooblether]

Turns out you’re not the only one! Apparently they’re just this prevalent in Europe! The same factors I’m sure will apply to different species in your country, and possibly, as in the case of meerkats, while they’re a common sight for you, we may not be so lucky here in Europe!

[@bugloverspiderlover8490]

Probably because they’re fairly easy to keep and breed very well,they even do well in homes as pets! I’d love to someday make a large enclosure for a small group of them,and the climate I live in is very similar to where they come from,I think they’d do quite well.

[@StarGiraffinum]

ZooTampa doesn't have them. Not anymore.

[@zooblether]

A few people have said similar. The US seems to be heading that way. Be interesting to see if a widespread species fills the gaps or if we start to see a range of small mammal species instead!