I couldn't help but notice that a lot of meerkats are 1) disappearing, 2) Dying, 3) getting sick and dying. does any1 know why this is? It's so sad.

FTMR
Flower The Meerkat Rocks
themeerkatsofthemanor.sampasite.com

I wonder what the average life expectancy is for a meerkat. Sure, there's "old men" like Zaphod, but so many of them die young. Does anybody have any information on this?

in the wild, I think it is 10 years. in captivity, 12

Yes, in the wild it is between 9-11 years, but that is if they do not get run over by a car, predated or die from disease. A meerkat that lives its entire lifespan reaches around 9-11 years, but the book says males reach around 6-10 years, and I heard females reach a bit older then that. With many other animals, dissappearing could be the males becoming adults and leaving their family group to join or build their own groups. I am not knowledgeable on the TB (The disease that is making them sick), but everyone keeps talking about a meerkat dieing from it.

One big example of a disappearance would be Shakespeare; some believe he has passed because he has not for sure been spotted, but he would not stay in the Whiskers forever, he eventually would move from the group to have his own group, and that is what I believe happened, even though the last time we saw him he was attacked by the Lazuli and walked off limping.

the concern i have with shake's departure is this.... in all the accounts about him leaving the group, i haven't heard anyone say that other males went with him. it seems to me that when a young subordinate males leave a group it is usually a group thing (at least 2 or 3, sometimes more). also, a roving group has got to be more likely of being able to join another family than a lone rover. shakespear being the DM of his own group would be absolutley wonderful though, and i certainly wouldn't say it was impossible.

it is very tough for female meerkats in the wild though. most female subordinates are permanently evicted before their 3rd birthday. they either attract rovers and start a new group or it's "thanks for playing". if they are lucky they are evicted in groups like all of the most recent whiskers splinter groups.

The recently evicted females are very lucky. Nothing like this ever happened in the history of the KMP: many wild rovers infiltrarated the study area. All the males in all the groups that were formed by evicted Whiskers, and Aztecs females (Baobab, Toyota, Van Helsing) are wild males. The Geckos were created by evicted females from the Commandos, and wild males. The Kung Fu was created by evicted Commandos females, and some wild and habituated rovers. They are wild males in the Moomins, the Rascals, and the Zappa (this is an earlier development, though). Normally, they are not enough rovers for evicted females to form groups with, and the lone females eventually die. Meerkats cannot live alone; they need the protection of a group. That is why even rovers are safer in groups when they "travel".