In the KMP December Life History report, under the Hoax, Sophie/Tina Sparkle (VWF076), appears to be pregnant, and last seen/emigrated (not dead, or just last seen, but last seen with this group, the Hoax, that disintegrated). Sophie is alive and well. On the KMP Current Meerkat Groups, under "GC", there is some information:
"The GC are a new group formed in December 2007 by two evicted Commandos females, an unknown habituated female, and three wild males."
The unknown habituated female could be Sophie. Sophie was wearing a collar, as last of the Hoax. She wouldn't wear a collar anymore, since there is a dominant female in the GC mob, AnnieAnnieAnnie of the Commandos, that is presumably monitored. The new group is in roughly the same territory that Sophie's Hoax used to occupy. Sophie had to join a group (again) in order to survive.
Why the GC habituated female is not named? She obviously belonged to another monitored/habituated group. The scientists etc., know all the habituated meerkats. Every other female is accounted for; if evicted, formed new mobs, last seen etc. It can be checked in the Life History. Sophie's name appears in the KMP December Name List (she is still with us). She was observed in December 2007, according to the KMP. The KMP know people's intense interest in Sophie (she is Mozart's daughter after all). This is probably a great story line for MM, and explains the secrecy. Remember that the KMP did not disclose any information about Sophie's participation in the Hoax for a long time.

I live in South East Florida, I'm a female, and I have four cats. I'm an animal lover. I watched MM from the second season on, I have the DVDs, I read the threads in the forums, but never participated. I only joined recently, wanting to commend on the loss of whole (historic) groups, like the Vivian, due to t.b.

ZettaK

Welcome, ZettaK!

You could be right about Sophie. I guess we'll have to wait until the next LH report to find out.

Many of our favorites have disappeared, and it seems like 99.9% of the time we never see them again. But I can't wait until that .01% when one of them comes back into the study area.

These little meerkats are addicting!

Welcome ZettaK,

Wow thats some good digging , i hope your right the evidence is quite startling, Specaily because of the secretism of the hoax group for so long! Sophie still has hope yet!

Yea ZettaK welcome...Hope you are right. We know beautiful Sophie is out there, but where? This sounds like a winner. Sophie is my female soulmate; Fluff, my male.

Welcome to the burrow.

Sorry Zettak, but the unknown habituated female in the GC isn't Tina Sparkle...By her being unknown, it means shes been missing for a while (1-3 months at least)...Tina Sparkle isn't going to be followed, they know her somehow and will mark her appearances when seen...When they are able to get closer, the researchers will scan this mystery female for her ID chip and will find out who she is...I know if I was a researchers out there and this happened, I would be on pins and needles...lol..

Pronker implied in an earlier thread that Sophie/Tina Sparkle is alive and well, in a group with wild meerkats, that is being monitored, and that she does not wear a collar anymore, possibly because somebody else does. It has to be a small group for a female to be able to join.
Looking at the new groups, we can eliminate BB. The mob was formed by 4 Whiskers females (Rocky DF, Cruise,Petra, Shelley) that were evicted repeatedly by RocketDog, and three wild males. This info was posted by another member. We can eliminate Java as well, the mob is composed of wild meerkats.
Kung Fu consists of two Commandos females, two Whiskers males, two wild males, and one Frisky male.
The NT are a wild group of 10-15 members, not habituated yet, or radio collared. I think this mob can be eliminated, as well.
The PS are a new group of wild origin, of four members who were joined by Carravagio, of Hoax. Habituation of this group is very difficult.
Abba is not a new mob, but it is a wild group that is not monitored. The members do not allow researchers to approach them.
This leaves us with GC. The mob was formed in December 2007, by two evicted Commandos females, an unknown habituated female, and three wild males. Sophie wouldn't wear a collar anymore, since there is a dominant female in the GC mob, AnnieAnnieAnnie (or Annie 3) of the Commandos, that is presumably wearing a radio collar. The group has 6 members and it is currently being re-habituated. Sophie's Hoax disintergrated recently, and she emigrated somewhere, according to the December report. It could be to the new GC mob.

ZettaK

the researchers know where Tina Sparkle is...and they have said that there is evidence of other meerkats around though they haven't been seen (wild meerkats running from the researchers)....but it isn't the GC group...since the researchers haven't seen the possible other meerkats...Pronker said that her collar has been removed because they are not actively going to search for her and they need the collar for other groups that they are going to search for, those collars are expensive...plus if it was Tina Sparkle, it would have been mentioned in the Friends burrow and it wasn't...

rattiesrules

Please read Pronker's somewhat cryptic info in another Spoiler Content thread (DECEMBER LH IS UP!!!). I based this on what she said; that Sophie/Tina Sparkle is alive, in a group with wild meerkats, and that she does not wear a collar anymore (she used to, as the last member of the Hoax), presumably because another Kat is the DF. The GC group fit this description. They have 6 members, 3 are habituated females (two Commandos, one "unknown"), and 3 are wild males; that is why they are being re-habituated right now. Tina/Sophie was "missing" from the Hoax; they disintergrated and she was wondering alone for a while. Other Hoax members joined other mobs (eg. Carravagio). The KMP, I believe, declares female meerkats missing after 1 month of being absent from their group; it is up to 3 months for males, because they rove.

ZettaK

Zettak, let me put it this way...I have a membership on fkmp...the webmistress is Evi who had been out to the Kalahari, and gets all the information (I believe even before Pronker, She can correct me if I'm wrong), but even Evi doesn't know who the Unknown habituated female is...What Pronker knows is what Evi knows...Evi has told us in the friends burrow a few of her guesses (and while I can't say which ones she guessed) none was Tina Sparkle/Sophie...

rattiesrules

I am not a member of the FKMP (I would like to become one soon), so I cannot claim that I have inside information. I can just try to guess. Members like you can help us by giving some hints.
It is reassuring to see that a lot of new groups were formed. This means that evicted females and rovers can have a better chance of survival.

ZettaK

Hi Rattie,

I must have missed something. Can you tell me which thread it was in that Evi made those guesses?

I'm sorry if I came across rude, Zettak...We don't know who it is (just that it isn't Tina Sparkle/Sophie)...We're hoping to get more info soon about it...it may be on next months life history report...

Ninjamom, its not on here, its in the friends burrow on fkmp...you have to be a member to get there...(which is why I can't say who she guessed)

That's okay, Rattie, I posted over there.

Based on Pronkers posting I believe that Sophie is out there and they know where she is but again it may be part of a storyline that will be apart of Season 4 so they can't give out to much info.

As everyone that reads my postings know I'm a big follower of Sophie because she is the offspring of my female favorite Mozart. Since losing our Princess I have been faithfully looking for info about her offspring and would've really liked to have seen them mentioned during Season 3. But for whatever reasons they only choose to have Sophie represented during Season 3 so we can only hope and pray that she isn't forced to walk in the footsteps of her momma. We can only pray that her life and Mozarts other offspring some of which were also evicted, one was pregnant and are now marked as last seen is a bit less tragic than Mozarts was.

Angie aka Meerkata

rattiesrules

I didn't mean to imply that only one person has information about the KMP. I know there are more members, like you. Unfortunately, they cannot disclose too much.
Regarding Tina Sparkle/Sophie we can confirm she is well, in a group of wild meerkats, not really monitored right now, but observed (according to what you said).

ZettaK

Zettak:

I think I speak for rattiesrules and other FKMP members when I say, we want to help all those that are not members, but the information that we can provide is limited. If we disclose too much our membership will be terminated.

Meerkata:

Members of FKMP are given all the available information directly from the researchers. Therefore, KMP has nothing to do MM. AP films MM and they base their storyline on their observations. The film crew is not allowed to interfere with the researchers and vice versa. As Pronker mentioned, Sophie is out there, but as of December they don’t know where. However, this could change in January’s LH reports. We members are also waiting for the reports.

I’m praying that Sophie is doing well.

animal-lover621
rattiesrules

I quite understand, regarding the FKMP membership situation.

ZettaK

zettak you have arrived digging and digging; keep up the good work.

Remember the collar does not always indicate dominancy; it is only to track the mobs. A subordinate could also wear it. Although I might guess that in these new and smaller mobs, the Dom would be the choosen one.

We are all waiting to hear about Miss Sophie.

I would be more than happy to donate the funds for a collar for Sophie. Dear friends who are members of the FKMP, please pass on this offer. I have said before but got no answer. I have no way to know for sure, but if the only reason they took the collar off of Sophie, again, I will be more than happy to offer the funds for one. My pup Syslr volunteer whatever of his own allowance is needed, but I will be happy to cover it.

Having said that, I'm afraid the issue is not this, but rather the manpower, and the fact that the data they are collecting is no longer compatible with following Sophie. So, we are f--, and so is she.

animal-lover621
rattiesrules

I did not want to impose on for information. I'm sorry if it appeared this way.

ZettaK

I do agree sunshine-1. They put a collar on Mozart after Kinkajou disappeared to follow her; it is the least they could do for her beautiful daughter, Sophie.

Good to hear of syslr. Thanks

Manpower I don't know, maybe like Fluff she has left the reserve or as Meerkata says, it will be part of Season 4. Will anxiously await January LH...the story of my life.

The scientists can monitor a certain number of groups (it depends on funding and manpower, I guess). Sophie's Hoax disintergrated, other established groups were lost, and the KMP started monitoring new splinter groups, wild meerkat groups, combinations of both, etc. Sophie is trying to join, or just joined a group. By then, the KMP quota was filled, I suspect. Sophie's new group cannot be monitored, at least now. Zaphod still wears a collar, although RocketDog And Maybelline wear their own as well, when he is the DM of either the Whiskers, or the Aztecs. Zaphod, of course, roves and needs to be monitored; since he was Flower's partner and he is the oldest meerkat in the Project, he is a VIP, I guess. I admit that it would be impossible to monitor individual meerkats, like Sophie, but it happened before, with Mozart and Kinkajou, like ccatz mentioned, and Zaphod.
I admire Sophie. She keeps trying to join group, after group, in order to survive. What could have happened to her mother, and the Starsky, if the mob was not infected with t.b......

I certainly hope Tina Sparkle/Sophie is doing well, and I have read several posts on her being spotted but not followed - hopefully she finds a family as we all know it is impossible for a lone female meerkat - but I am curious about this female meerkat - I am not a "friend" yet - but hope to be soon - but I am wondering if it isn't too far off for Lola to be this female meerkat?

Lola was absent from the Zappa in November, and last seen in December. I'm afraid this is not good. The other two females of the GC group were evicted from the Commandos. Evicted females tend to stay relatively close to their former mobs, even if they form a new one. The Starsky's territory was very close to the Whiskers'. The Aztecs' territory is very close to the Whiskers' as well (although the Aztecs is a splinter group). In fact, the territories of these groups overlap. Assuming that the Commandos evicted females remained close to their former group, and that the third habituated female did the same, then she was a member of one of the neighboring mobs to the Commandos, or a Commando as well, of course. The neighboring groups are the now lost Hoax (Mau Mau the DF was last seen though), the Whiskers, the Aztecs, or even the Young Ones (if any female still survived). Females were evicted from all these groups recently. Several formed new groups already. This is only a guess. It is very general, as well.

Excellent points, zettak and all. I haven't given up hope on Tina S/Sophie joining one of the new small groups monitored by the KMP, but I suppose it's more likely that she would join a small wild group like the Hoax. I just hope she finds a family somewhere, poor darling. Since she is so well habituated, maybe someday a researcher will get close enough to make a positive ID, though her dye marks will probably be long gone.

I wonder if they would have to catch her to scan her microchip? My impression is that equipment is scarce at KMP, so I'm guessing each group can't carry one into the field.

I will be thrilled if *any* of the evicted females are able to join a new group. Living on their own is a harsh fate they don't deserve. I find it encouraging that Sophie and Suggs successfully joined the Hoax. Maybe Sophie's sweet, non-threatening manner will be reassuring enough that she can do it again. Or maybe she will catch the eye of one or more roving males who decide to settle down. We can dream...

Well, we could probably make some educated gueses. I looked back at the LH reports going back to August. There were three LS females in August , GGF032, MMF016 and RRF086. September and October had no LS females listed. Then, we have November which lists 14 (?) LS females. But would the dye marks still be present on the November kats? Also, how long does a habituated meerkat stay habituated? Maybe for the rest of their life, or maybe they lose that over time if they are living with wild meerkats?

It will be good to find out, but if it is a long lost kat, I have a feeling it will be a closely guarded secret.

Yo ninjamom

This is in reply to how long does a habituated meerkat stay habituated. It's part of an interview (Meerkats Stand Tall) with Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock:

"By this time we had our own problems. We had been working in the park for five years, and the authorities thought this should be long enough to complete the study. Eventually we were forced to pack up camp and leave.

We had followed Juma since he was a juvenile, and losing contact with him was like losing an old friend. Luckily, we had been habituating meerkats at a second study area 60 miles (96.6 kilometers) to the southeast on the Kuruman River. The work had been slow, but by the time we left the park we were able to observe eight groups at Kuruman, and we could recognize each individual. We simply shifted our camp and pursued our research with different individuals.

The past few years have brought good rains, and many of our Kuruman groups are now 30 animals strong. There are more group members to share the task of guarding and feeding young, so each individual expends much less time and energy on cooperative activities. It's a far cry from the groups of four or five that we watched struggling to feed their pups in the park.

And juma? last year my south African colleague Justin O'Riain and I were allowed to spend a wee