Expedition 🇧🇼 Botswana
Meerkat in Botswana
The desert sentinel — a small mongoose that stands upright on hind legs, scanning the Kalahari sky while its family digs for scorpions below.
The species
Meerkats are among the most cooperative mammals on Earth. Groups of up to 50 share burrow systems in hard Kalahari soil, babysit each other's pups, and post sentries that stand tall on rear legs, swivelling to spot eagles and jackals.
Habitat in Botswana
Dry savanna, scrub, and semi-desert in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa hold meerkats. They need hard ground for burrows and open visibility for sentinel duty, and have become famous through wildlife films in the Kalahari.
Where to spot one
Kalahari Desert
Central Botswana
Red sand and sparse scrub — home to meerkat mobs, gemsbok, and brown hyenas at burrow entrances at dawn.
Okavango Delta
Northern Botswana
A river that never reaches the sea — mokoro trips through papyrus channels with elephants, hippos, and painted dogs.
Chobe National Park
Northern Botswana
One of Africa's greatest elephant concentrations along the Chobe River at sunset.
Makgadikgadi Pans
Northeast Botswana
Vast salt flats that flood seasonally — flamingos, zebra migrations, and meerkats on the pan edges.
Conservation status
Meerkats are Least Concern across southern Africa. They are popular in ecotourism and wildlife documentaries, with habituated groups at research sites in Botswana.
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