Meerkats of the Kalahari (trip)
Meerkats of the Kalahari
- Volunteer Vacations
14 Days, from $3,750* per person. June-August, October.
Accommodations: Simple. Exertion level: 3 (7 is most strenuous)
Overview of Meerkats of the Kalahari
Cooperative breeding, in which animals help others raise their young, occurs in many animal species. It appears to be common in the Kalahari Desert, where extreme conditions have molded cooperative breeding in meerkats, those inimitable relatives of mongooses that stand upright to peer across the landscape. The explanation for this behavior has been that related animals benefit by having shared genes passed on in the young they helped nurture. However, renowned behavioral ecologist Dr. Timothy Clutton-Brock and his colleague Dr. Marta Manser believe that even more immediate and selfish reasons stimulate cooperative breeding. You can help them examine how environment and evolution shape cooperative behavior.
Operated by Earthwatch Institute.
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Locations visited/nearby
Meerkats of the Kalahari , meerkats , kalahari , animal behavior , animal societies , volunteer , earthwatch , scientific research , habitats , africa , wildlife surveys , ecotourism
0 testimonials about this trip.
1 testimonial about the provider, Earthwatch Institute:
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Reviewer: L. Reifschneider
located in
St. Louis,
MO
USA
Elephant conservation is what drives my travel destinations. However, I always come home counting the blessings of new friends and an understanding of a culture and way of life I possibly would otherwise have never been introduced to. Through the Earthwatch projects I participate in, I am learning just how big and wonderful this world is.
Disclaimers
*Travel product and pricing information are the travel provider’s base estimates, published here as a convenience to TravelDragon users without verification by TravelDragon. Your actual price will vary depending upon length of trip, travel dates, number of traveling guests, transportation (e.g. airfare, rail passes, etc.), and optional service features such as room categories or individualized food requirements. This base price estimate may or may not include all necessary fees, taxes, government-imposed surcharges. Be sure to confirm availability, total price and trip details with the travel provider using the contact information provided here.
Max group size: 6
Itinerary
Under the direction of experienced field staff, you’ll help observe six habituated colonies of meerkats in South Africa’s Kuruman River Reserve. You'll learn how to radio-track, conduct focal sampling, use a Global Positioning System, and weigh meerkats. The data you collect will help researchers evaluate how cooperative breeding affects the survival of both pups and helpers. You will also investigate interactions between the meerkats and a klepto-parasitic bird species, the fork-tailed drongo. Supplementing the meerkat studies, you'll help conduct biodiversity, invertebrate, and plant surveys, and spend some time recording the size and activity of social bird colonies like pied babblers and weavers, in response to rainfall levels. You'll also help with outreach efforts to assist the local primary school. All of these adventures will be set against a backdrop of gemsbok, hartebeest, springbok, duiker, steenbok, bat-eared foxes, three kinds of mongooses, many birds, and the fantastic creatures of the Kalahari night.
The Kuruman River Reserve (KRR) is situated in the Northern Cape, a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking province of South Africa. The area surrounding the reserve is owned by sheep and cattle farmers, who are very friendly and hospitable, but generally fairly conservative. The closest village to the reserve is Vanzylsrus, a small settlement that provides services to the local farmers and their workers
The KRR itself covers 15.5 square miles of semi-arid dune country on either side of the dry bed of the Kuruman River in the South African Kalahari. The topography of the reserve consists of vegetated dunes separated by valleys up to 980 feet across. Vegetation consists of scattered camel thorn trees along the river bed, grading out into dry scrub dominated by annual and perennial grasses. The reserve carries gemsbok, blue wildebeest, elands, red hartebeest, springbok, duiker, steenbok, bat-eared foxes, cape foxes, porcupines, aardvarks, aardwolves, small spotted genets, meerkats, and slender and yellow mongooses. A diverse bird fauna is also present, including substantial populations of social weavers and the world’s smallest bird of prey, the pygmy falcon.
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