Meerkat

The lookout. The second of three meerkats I photographed onthis zoo trip (see #1 at http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/27451369) The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild.