The fall of any powerful leader always creates ripples
across the pond, and nature is no different.
As you know, yesterday marked five weeks since Gandalf
disappeared from the Gosa meerkat gang. Without warning, without a trace, he
just vanished. Did he leave? Was he kicked out? Was he taken by a hawk? Or a
Jackal? Bitten by a snake? We have no way of knowing. Day after day the crew
counted and recounted the Gosa gang, hoping that we were simply missing the
tell-tale markings we use to identify him. But those markings were never seen
again, and Cleopatra and the family seemed to drop into a state of worry and
confusion.
The loss of an alpha male in any society opens up a few
avenues which, if explored, can change the entire direction of the family
group. We saw this too in our very own Gosa gang. With Gandalf now gone, there
was no dominant male. Impressively, Starsky was first to step up. Starsky? The
clown? Yes! The one and only! No ore shenanigans, no ore wrestling, it’s time
to grow up. Starsky has now started sharing sentry duty with Matimba and Cleo,
and seems to have a very good eye for danger. Hutch too has started acting a
little more responsible, but sees to allow starsky to take the lead in most
things. The other males in the group (Brutus, Napoleon and Dingaan) don’t seem
interested in any form of leadership. They still move with Delilah and prefer
to keep their heads below the radar when it comes to leading the group.
And what of Cleo? A Queen without a King. Strictly speaking,
she will choose another mate when one presents himself. But that’s the biologist
in me. Many times over during my academic career greyed haired scientists with
ink stained fingers and opaque lab coats warned me about
anthropomorphising any
event concerning animals. And yet, over these past few weeks of watching Cleo
sit on sentry duty, I cannot help but notice that sense of longing, the sense
of emptiness that Cleo has displayed in her behaviour. It’s difficult to
describe, but it’s unmistakable. And yet, she has a family to look after and
protect and needs an alpha male by her side.
That’s when Malaki arrived.
Dark, broad-headed and solid to the core, Malaki
(Mal-ak-eye) arrived on the scene as mysteriously as Gandalf left. At first we
assumed he was from a neighbouring gang, but none of the neighbouring meerkat
groups are missing any members and so he is officially branded “origin
unknown”. We first noticed him about a week and a half ago, snooping around the
edge of the group and showing a lot of interest in Cleo. In the days following
that encounter, Malaki was able to get close to Cleo and began to forage with
her and groom her. The rest of the gang slowly accepted him, until one evening
at Northern Burrow the whole family was seen grooming together outside one of
the sleeping chambers. A quick succession, but a necessary one for the group to
succeed. The next few months will be a testing one for our new alpha male.
And so, we bid a sad farewell to Gandalf, the leader who we
lost to the sunset of the Kalahari.
…or did we…
Last night one of the rangers presented me with a photo he
took of a very habituated meerkat at Birds Nest burrow. I’m not 100% sure, but
it does look like the man himself, Gandalf. If it is him, we will have to wait
and see what transpires. He is now alone, and caught between three large
meerkat groups.
Time will tell
Rob
Rob’s song for the
day: Coyotes – Richard Thompson
