The Meerkats Strike!
Survival Of The Fittest
Do some animals have a greater chance on living in a community then others who live alone and why?
Introduction:
Life is very different for animals who live alone compard to animals who live in a community. One of the animals species that lives in a community are meerkats. Meerkats have a strong sense of family, which also acts as a survival mechanism, "Safety and Numbers." Allthough they are small animals, meerkats have a surprising amount of strength due to their specific phisical features. Strength together with their lifestyle (safety and numbers), have allowed the meerkats to survive.
Discription:
Meerkats are very small indeed! The meerkats are only 30cm tall. They have two ears that are closed so no dirt goes in their ears while digging. Their eyes allow for them to have excellent vision of their surroundings. This helps the meerkats keep a good eye out for any predators.(http://www.animalfactguid) Meerkats have light brown fur that is very fine. Meerkats eat plants and animals which makes them Omnivores.(http://www.animalfactguid) They often eat insects,small rodents,fruit,birds,eggs,lizards and even the most poisonous scorpians.(http://www.animalfactguid) They live with 20 to 50 other meerkats in the wild.(Amasing Animal Families, 2009) In the community there is a leader of that group and that leader is the female. They are the most dominat of the group.(http://www.animalfactguid) They are very intellegent creauturs!
Also the meerkats eyes have a proctective shield. This prevents them from getting any dirt in their eyes while they are digging. The meerkats claws are used for digging burrows, catching their prey, for running and defence.(1000 Things you should know about Wild Animals, John Fardon, 2001) The eyes and claws of the meerkats are very important parts of their body. They need these in oder for them to survive in the wild!
Operations:
Survival is different for every animal. They eat different things,live in different countries and live differently. One animal species that live in a community is the Meerkats.(Amasing Animal Families, 2009) They live in a large group of other meerkats. If a predator acttacks them, it takes a while for the predator to coose their target because there are so many of them. As meerkats are small, it would be easy for them to hide underground while their predators are around. It is better for the meerkats to have eyes on the look out for any predators. That would mean if one of the meerkats heard a noise and saw a predator they would communicate to each other by making noises. The meerkats would be warning the other meerkats "there is a Predator coming." They need to communicate for their safety. The meerkats normally have at least two or one meerkats on the look out while the rest go hunt for food.
The meerkats also have a great success on finding food, killing other animals and Protecting their food supply. Meerkats stay in a group so they can find a mate. If a meerkat was alone, it wouldn't have any resourses to survive as well as if it lived in a group. If meerkats lived alone,, life would be different. Cheetahs live alone but it is easier for them to find food and shelter because of their predatory skills. For them to live in a group it would take lots of pounds of meet every few days for food. They would end up competing with the one another for food, rather them not together as a community. Hunting techniques for animals tht live alone are very different to hunting styles of animals that live in groups. The best way for some animals to survive is living in the group. Living in a group means the animals have more rescourses then those who live alone. They communicate with other animals of their own species. So whether it's better for species to live alone or in a group, depends on the survival skills of the animal.
Location:
Meerkats can be found in South Africa in a desert called
'Kalahari.' (http://www.animalfactguid)They live in underground tunnels wich are called Burrows. Kalahari is the worlds biggest desert.
Dynamics:
This report has been discussed about animals that live alone and others that live in a community. The report has also been discussed the meerkats life style, Hunting skills, where they live and what the animals look like.
An Action for this report would be to write a narrative or a brochare to get everyones attention about how unique meerkats are. The brochure or narrative would ask people of their point of veiw: do animals who livew alone have a greater cahnce of survival then animals who live in a community?