After the lead meerkat attacked the rabbit, the higher-ranking members of the group continued to tear apart the prey.
Gareth Nuttall-Smith, a field guide and conservation staff member, captured the hunting trip of a group of dwarf meerkats in the Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa, as reported by Latest Sightings on August 9.
Dwarf meerkats (Helogale parvula) live in groups and follow a social hierarchy, typically with the females at the top. Male meerkats weigh about 320 grams, while females are slightly smaller. Their diet mainly consists of snakes, eggs, insects, and occasionally small mammals, but they rarely attack larger animals. This makes the sight of meerkats hunting rabbits, as recorded by Nuttall-Smith, particularly special.
Interestingly, the meerkats took turns attacking the wild rabbit.
“My colleague Bushi and I encountered a group of meerkats while checking the reserve. When we stopped, they scattered. I spotted an injured scrub hare (Lepus saxatilis) and grabbed my camera to film,” Nuttall-Smith recounted.
“At that moment, it seemed that the lead meerkat was the only one attacking the scrub hare. After it had its fill, the higher-ranking meerkats took their turn,” he added. Several meerkats then dragged the scrub hare into the bushes, out of Nuttall-Smith’s view. Consequently, he and his colleague left as well.
“This was a very unusual and rare sight for me. I have been at Mala Mala for four years and have never witnessed anything like this. The strange thing was that the meerkats took turns attacking the wild rabbit. I thought they would all attack the prey together like wild dogs,” Nuttall-Smith shared.
