The story is not as on TV. I have it here and have submited it for posting if it does not get put up I will deliver it another way. Short story,
Axel was not adopted by Flower
Flower did not give birth to a litter after the two that were born and killed.
they were actually lost not abandoned and predated
Liz is not a Flower pup.
Pretty interesting actually I have the book.

this is the message I get when I attempt to post the story.

Thank you for contributing to this forum. Unfortunately, your post will not be displayed until after it is approved by community administrators, because one or more trigger words were used in your post.
If and when the community administrators approve your post, it will appear in the forum.

No Cuss words or anything like that pretty much right out of the book with dates and events actually. If you want a copy I will be happy to email it to you if the story does not get put up as I typed it. I really wanted someone to answer those questions but no one would. I found out all of the bullets by reading the book though and exactly how Flower passed as well. Little more to it than the show had on it and really more heart warming too.

perhaps not the best place to bring this issue… still, I'd like to know the title of the book.

From the book.....

“….Eventually Flower appeared at the entrance, rocking from side to side. Her head and jaw were swollen and one eye was half shut. She stumbled to one side of the burrow and lay, breathing heavily. She had aborted during the night and there was some blood on her rear. Zaphod came across to her and groomed her briefly.

As the sun mounted, the rest of Flower’s family stopped sunning and started to feed. They were uneasy and called regularly. Eventually, Rocket Dog led them off to the south and one by one they followed her. Flower tried to follow but fell and crawled back to the burrow entrance, where she lay in the shadow. As Zaphod left, he marked Flower on the head.

The sun climbed and the heat of the day rose and the effects of the large dose of poison that Flower had received became stronger. Here breathing grew labored and then lighter and lighter as she lost consciousness. By the afternoon she was in a coma, though she still twitched occasionally. Flies had started to gather on her face. Her breathing became shallower and shallower and finally ceased."

So you can see this much anyway. The time line tells the rest of the story about the bum scoop in the tv show. This is actually pretty heart warming this way and it is the truth.

Oh the title is "Meerkat Manor Flower of the Kalahari" ISBN #978-0-297-84484-6

This is as good a place to tell the truth as any I would think. I miss that little meerkat and things just were not the way they portrayed them on the tube. None the less it is a great story either way. The book is just as touching.

Peace out!

sgtmajhughes--thank's for the info about the book--I didn't even know there was a book out there. Want to go on one of the earthwatch trips in the kalahari. thanks again

SGM, it's difficult to keep track of both stories exactly, isn't it? I have to get the book, just haven't gotten around to it.

I knew a SGM Hughs at Redstone Arsenal!?

PS anything directly from the book should probably be put in the spoiler forum. That's probably why you couldn't post it here. They're pretty tight about it.

I don't understand why Animal Planet doesn't just tell the actual life stories of the 'kats instead of 'sweetening' the plots. It's unnecessary and just plain annoying.

I do agree with you SGT but there are a lot of folks who can't really accept the idea that television isn't necessarily truth. I thank you for posting the bit that got through, although I think heartbreaking mught be more accurate. What is the title to the book please?

Hi Casacooper,
Yes I think you are right heartbreaking is more accurate. I should have said that for sure.

Dmoo753,
I am a retired Sergeant Major from the Marines. Thanks for asking though. You never know, met a recruit I trained as a DI 20 years ago via the net. Very neat.

I think the reason it did not post was because of some key words not any other reason.

I am going to try to put up the time line in shorts, lets see if this works. It explains that the story on TV was not the way it happened to include the fact that Flower did not have a litter in the burrow when the snake bit her. Kind of drama there I don't think they should have done that but oh well....

20/11/06 Flower gives birth to her thirteenth litter: two very small pups.

3/12/06 Whiskers splits. Flower’s pups remain with the other half of the group

14/12/06 Rocket Dog aborts.

19/12/06 Flower’s pups disappear soon after they begin to forage with the group.

23/12/06 A Young Ones pup (VYM137) is mixed up in the melee following an inter-group fight and remains with Whiskers. (Axel)

26/12/06 The two halves of Whiskers reunite. Flower retakes overall dominance.

27/12/06 Eight Whiskers females are pregnant, including Flower.

25/01/07 Flower is bitten by a snake and dies. Flo gives birth, followed by Petra, Ella and Hawkeye during the next week. There are eight pups altogether: Burdock (VWF115), Rhogan Josh (VWM116), Amira (VWF117), Squig (VWF118), CHERIQUI (VWF119), Rufus (VWM120), Etosha (VWM121), and Murray (VWM112). Their parentage is not yet certain.

28/01/07 Rocket Dog becomes the dominant female of Whiskers

So what we see here are first of all, AXLE was NOT adopted by Flower but was in fact accepted by the GROUP of Whiskers while Rocket Dog was the dominant female and was in the group when Flower took back control of the Whiskers.
Second, Flower did not give birth to another litter before she was killed and in fact was pregnant with a litter when she was bitten by a snake, aborted the litter the night of the bite and actually woke up the next morning after aborting her litter and was alive for a short period the following morning.
Third, the alleged off spring of Flower named LIZ is not named that at all and if that pup is a Flower off spring then it has another name but the age of the pup is too young to actually count as one of Flowers pups. It was most likely one of the eight listed above from another female.

So the entire STORY” around Flowers death was movie story line for the heart breaking moments. Truth is much different than the TV show demonstrated. I am very disappointed that the producers did this. This must be why NO ONE would answer the questions asked about Liz and Axel and what happened to Flowers litter that she supposedly gave birth too shortly before her snake bite. It is because her last little were the TWO that were abandoned by the splinter group after Flower left with a few other Meerkats. The deformed paw Meerkat baby and the one that was “caught by a bird of prey” the truth is they simply disappeared. No evidence of either abandonment as suggested or predated as the show led us to believe.

The book actually said in its epilogue “….Eventually Flower appeared at the entrance, rocking from side to side. Her head and jaw were swollen and one eye was half shut. She stumbled to one side of the burrow and lay, breathing heavily. She had aborted during the night and there was some blood on her rear. Zaphod came across to her and groomed her briefly.

As the sun mounted, the rest of Flower’s family stopped sunning and started to feed. They were uneasy and called regularly. Eventually, Rocket Dog led them off to the south and one by one they followed her. Flower tried to follow but fell and crawled back to the burrow entrance, where she lay in the shadow. As Zaphod left, he marked Flower on the head.

The sun climbed and the heat of the day rose and the effects of the large dose of poison that Flower had received became stronger. Here breathing grew labored and then lighter and lighter as she lost consciousness. By the afternoon she was in a coma, though she still twitched occasionally. Flies had started to gather on her face. Her breathing became shallower and shallower and finally ceased.


The show is all fiction. Too bad too because it was a cute story but not true. The book tells all and exactly the way it was. I ordered it from Great Britain and it took less than 2 weeks to get it at half the price of the ones listed in the US. It is well worth the money though and I am half finished with the book. It is all about her life. Great read so far. This was of course the Epilogue as I wanted to know what the heck happened and what about the litter she “gave birth too” as the show suggested. It was all “HOLLYWOOD” man that really stinks. The Axle story was not true either. Kind of smells doesn’t it? I will post this everywhere I can so everyone can get the answers to these questions instead of guessing.

Thanks and I sure love the show and the Meerkats.

Hmmmm?? Well, that makes Flowers death even sadder for me. But the not true stuff, Why would they do that. If true I think that s-u-c-k-s..

SgtMajHughes, thank you for the information. I ordered the book and will recieve in a few weeks. I have been reading the information on the KMP site and too thought the KMP dates and AP dates didn't match.
I will be going to the Kalahari next year with Earthwatch for the Meerkat Project. I am very excited about going. I wish I could have seen Mozart and Flower in person. I will savor the fact that I have an opportunity to walk the same desert land that they walked and see life from their view.
All the meerkats teach us and I will continue to watch the show, but will still keep an open mind as to the storyline since it is soap opera style.

Bravo Zulu to ALL meerkats.

Rest peacefully Mozart, Flower, Shakes, Carlos, Tosca, Len, Squiggy and to others I forgot to mention.

Dobi,
That is some kind of neat that you are going there. What a treat. I have been to 27 countries around the world but never to Africa. There are many things there that I would love to see, well I was in Egypt once. Well, good luck on your trip, I envy that work it just seems so rewarding. Good luck and enjoy and thanks for the note.

Flowers and Preciousflowers, I too wish they would not have made up that story line. It really upset me to know that everything I thought was true was not. I kind of thought something was up when I went to the research site and some of the things there did not match up with the tv show. Like flowers litter count and birth dates. She did not give birth as the show led us to believe which was the worse part of it. Liz is not one of Flowers pups like the show led us to believe. She was not trying to save her pups because there were no pups in the burrow. That is just a sorry way to do the show I think. BUt, I will miss Flower and all of the meerkats we have grown attached to watching the show. Too bad they have to wreck it with fake stories huh? Oh well, what else is new in the world we live in today? Everyone is quick to lie about something then give some sorry excuse for it.
SgtMajH

If this book is the true story than it shows how heartless the researchers, producers, and crew really are. Like I said before this stopped being research when they turned it into a weekly series. To sit and watch Flower suffer and die. I thought we as humans are trying to make a differance. I think it's just money for animal planet and it breaks my heart. If it is research leave it at that. Don't give them names and let us fall in love with them just to watch them die. I will not watch next season. It is to hard. This started out as a sweet show but thrned into something very,very ugle.
To All Our Meerkats That Have Lost Their Lives
RIP : You Were All Loved

Sorry I ment turned into something ugle

SGM, There are some other documentaries that aren't "enhanced" like MM that you may enjoy. One of the best is "Meerkats-Behind the Mask" by Nat'l Geo. Most all the long time fans on this board are aware of the manner of presentation of the MM/AP story. We also participate in live chats, the KMP website, the Fellow Earthings adoption program and East Coast Meerkat Society. AP does show a realistic portrait of meerkats to the degree that it is within a TV format. Obviously it needs to maintain ratings to keep advertisers. I enjoy the story line, and yes I cry terribly over the meerkats. Maybe for some people that is like soapopera fans getting dressed up for weddings and funerals for their favorite actors. I don't quite see it that way. Soaps are pure fantasy - meerkats are real. AP gives me a window into their existence. For the real nitty-gritty, I go to the actual websites for KMP. Many of us have ordered or recieved the book you have and know what you are saying. I guess I view the AP story separate from the KMP research and it works for me.

I too am hoping to visit KMP next spring after I finish my 20 in the Army. By the way, my brother was (is) a Marine. I love you guys, you're the best. But don't tell my brother I said that

You're right dmoo753. You have to be able to separate real meerkat research from our t.v. meerkats that we've come to love.

Remember everyone; they are only filming these meerkats in real life (and death) scenarios, just like other animal shows.

Imagine watching animals do what they do and no story line involved? They are born, they kill, they play, they eat, they sleep.

Producers and writers make up story lines for our benefit. A benefit which I thoroughly enjoy. Sometimes they have to piece together a story even when there is none!!

Long live Meerkat Manor!

R.I.P. FLOWER
R.I.P. MOZART

Thanks Dmoo very thoughtful of you and I appreciate the appreciation for the Corps as well. I appreciate everyone that serves so my hat is off to you as well! Thank you for your service brother (if I have the gender right?) I still enjoy watching MM and I will continue to watch it but now I will be checking the Kalahari Meerkat Project site for details of anything that is heart throbbing. That story around Flower was just uncalled for if you ask me. I think the real story would have played just as nice with the adoption of Axel and acceptance by Flower later. They did not have to make believe she had a litter and was trying to save them by going in the burrow either. That was unnecessary I think. But, I am sure the producers now know they made a BIG mistake with that lie. Probably had no idea there were so many fans with HUGE HEARTS either.

I will continue to watch the show but I will most certainly check out the other venues that DMoo talks about. I did not know of them. Thank you again.
SgtMajH