Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)

Rationale

The Suricate is listed as Least Concern as it is relatively widespread in the assessment region, is present in several protected areas (notably in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park), and there are currently no major threats to the species. It occurs in habitats and regions that are largely intact and unlikely to be extensively transformed. Climate change may adversely affect this species if rainfall in semi-arid areas becomes more unpredictable and the annual average is reduced. The predicted extension of the current semi-arid region of southern Africa in an easterly direction may result in an easterly shift of its current distribution.

Regional population effects: The species’ range is assumed to be continuous within southern Africa and hence it is likely that there is dispersal across regions. However, there is a lack of research on the actual range and whether there are breaks in the distribution that may result from unsuitable edaphic factors, mountains or large perennial rivers (e.g. the Orange River) and/or the absence of other species that may be important for creating suitable microhabitats – for example Cape Ground Squirrels (Xerus inauris), whose burrows Suricates use as sleeping and denning sites.

Distribution

This species is widespread in the western parts of southern Africa, including western and southern Namibia, southwestern Botswana, and north and west South Africa, with a very marginal intrusion into extreme southwestern Angola (Macdonald 2013). Lynch (1994) suggested that this species may occur in the lowlands of Lesotho, but there have been no records so far (N.L. Avenant pers. comm. 2013).

Within the assessment region, the species occurs in the arid western and southern areas, highland grasslands, and Eastern Cape (Figure 1). Suricates are restricted to the southern parts of the North West Province, Gauteng and Mpumalanga (Skinner & Chimimba 2005). However, they do not extend eastwards as far as the Swaziland border. Suricates are widespread in both the Free State and Northern Cape provinces. As the species favours arid, open country, it occurs widely through the Nama-Karoo and Succulent Karoo biomes. Within the Western Cape, it occurs in the Fynbos Biome and extends eastwards into the Savanna Biome in areas where annual rainfall exceeds 600 mm (Skinner & Chimimba 2005). While Suricates occur in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, they are absent along the coastline, from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth; this absence does extend for some distance inland.

Population trend

Trend

Suricate densities can fluctuate greatly across the range, and are influenced by rainfall and predation (Doolan & Madonald 1997; Clutton-Brock et al. 1999b). In the South African section of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, densities declined from 1 individual / km2 in April 1994 to 0.32 individual / km2 in May 1995 following a reduction in rainfall (Clutton-Brock et al. 1999b). Generation length is estimated to be six years (Jordan & Do Linh San 2015).

However, Suricates are generally considered to be relatively common across their known range and may have been favoured by the elimination of many of their natural predators (e.g. raptors and mesopredators) by small livestock farmers. Although the population is currently considered to be stable, climate change may cause population decline in the future because Suricates’ reproduction is significantly affected by rainfall (Clutton-Brock et al. 1999a; Russell et al. 2002).

Threats

Suricates are not currently facing any major threats. There is no evidence so far that infection with tuberculosis (probably Mycobacterium bovis), which may be common in this species (Drewe 2010), has led to any direct persecution in farming areas, or that a present small trade in Suricates as pets has affected wild populations.

Climate change and habitat transformation may pose long-term threats to Suricate populations across their distribution. Increasing aridity may adversely affect reproduction (see Clutton-Brock et al. 1999a) and recruitment and may therefore cause local extinctions in already arid areas. No information is currently available to suitably evaluate the possible impacts of land transformation for agriculture on Suricates. Changing the habitat and hence the food resources that are reliant on natural habitat could prove negative for this species. On the other hand, since there are fewer or no large predators on most farmlands (both due to persecution and lack of large, natural prey resulting from habitat change), Suricates can potentially thrive. If mesopredator release occurs, however, this could lead to increased predation by the medium-sized carnivores and/or increased competition for food with other small carnivore species. The conversion of land for crops through irrigation projects in arid areas is likely to have the most direct short-term effects as these activities may eliminate many of the Suricates natural prey in addition to displacing important ecosystem engineer species such as Cape Porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis), Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) and especially Cape Ground Squirrels that may benefit Suricates through the provision of burrow systems and bolt holes, respectively.

Uses and trade

Suricates are used as research subjects for understanding the costs and benefits of social behaviour in mammals and they are charismatic animals for ecotourism businesses. Suricates are also sold as live animals for the entertainment industry or as pets. They can be habituated and are often used in wildlife documentaries. Trade in live animals is not expected to negatively impact on the population, but there are welfare issues with keeping the species as a pet. It is also important to mention that Suricates do not adapt well to traditional pet care standards of average people. In addition, they generally tend to urinate (scent-mark) in multiple locations in the house, may chew wires, carpets and even furniture, and can be aggressive towards visitors (O.A.E. Rasa pers. comm. 2016) and new pets.

Wildlife ranching may increase the habitat available for the species, but no study has demonstrated this yet

Conservation

Suricates are present in several large and well-managed protected areas, including the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Tswalu Game Reserve, Mokala National Park, and Addo Elephant National Park which are respectively located at the northern extreme, centre and southern border of their current distribution within the assessment region. There are no specific conservation interventions geared towards their conservation nationally, but local organisations that engage in both ecotourism (e.g. Klein Karoo) and research (e.g. Kuruman River Reserve) are important for educating the public on the ecological role and biological significance of this species. Awareness and education campaigns might help reducing the pet trade, but paradoxically could also – along with media attention – exacerbate this threat.

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:
  • Monitor and regulate their use in the pet trade.
  • Educate the public on the pitfalls of keeping Suricates as pets and encourage people to report the trade of meerkats for the pet industry.
  • Monitor sites for potential population declines from climate change.
Research priorities: This is a well-studied African small carnivore (see review in Macdonald 2013) and no particular knowledge is urgently needed in view of managing or conserving the species. However, the majority of behavioural ecology research is derived from studies carried out in the Kalahari Desert. The following research topics will therefore assist in improving our knowledge on this species and gathering information that may be relevant for conservation in the future:
  • Study Suricate ecology and behaviour in other biomes (e.g. Karoo, Highveld Grassland or Fynbos).
  • Survey this species distribution and status in the Great Karoo and the central and northern parts of the Eastern Cape.
  • Assess the potential impacts that climate change will have on the population.
  • Assess the drivers and extent of the pet trade.
Encouraged citizen actions:
  • Report sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP), especially outside protected areas. As confusion with Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) and other mongoose species is possible, a photograph is required for confirmation of identification, especially when sightings are made in areas where the distribution ranges of these two mongoose species overlap.

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