Meerkat Manor
TV Show • 2005
ReportMeerkat Manor is a British television programme produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet International that premiered in September 2005 and ran for four series until its cancellation in August 2008. Blending more traditional animal documentary style footage with dramatic narration, the series told the story of the Whiskers, one of more than a dozen families of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert being studied as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project, a long-term field study into the ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of the cooperative nature of meerkats. The original programme was narrated by Bill Nighy, with the narration redubbed by Mike Goldman for the Australian airings and Sean Astin for the American broadcasts. The fourth series, subtitled The Next Generation, saw Stockard Channing replacing Astin as the narrator in the American dubbing.
Meerkat Manor premiered in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2005, and the first 13-episode series concluded on 24 October 2005. With the success of the programme in the United Kingdom, Animal Planet started broadcasting it on its national channels in Australia, Canada, and the US. It has since been rebroadcast in more than 160 other countries. The fourth, and final, series aired initially in the United States from 6 June 2008 to 22 August 2008; it aired in the United Kingdom in April 2009. In August 2009, it was reported that the programme had been cancelled.
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Are animals abused?
211 supporters
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MeerKAB
No animals are abused by any of the researchers featured on the show.
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Not only are there animal bodies, but there are also animal deaths shown onscreen
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There are no dog fights, however other animals are constantly shown fighting each other (especially the meerkats)
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Is there a dead animal?
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Throughout Meerkat Manor, several of the meerkats pass away from various causes. There are also other animal deaths featured including that of their prey (eg insects and birds) as well as the occasion skeleton/carcass of larger herd animals
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No human children are abused, but young meerkats are shown being hurt in degrees varying from rough playfights to infanticide.
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Is there eye mutilation?
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Eyes are occasionally shown to be bruised and/or swollen as a result of injuries such as a snakebite or blunt trauma inflicted by rival meerkats.
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Are there incestuous relationships?
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Is someone tortured?
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Animals are often shown receiving injuries from other animals including being torn apart and eaten alive (mostly prey such as insects, geckos and birds but the occasional meerkat pup as well).
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Is there domestic violence?
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MeerKAB
There are no scenes of suicide, but the meerkats’ risky actions are occasionally referred to as “suicide missions”.
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Does someone attempt suicide?
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Is there sexual content?
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Scenes of animals mating are shown throughout the series. These scenes are also narrated in an anthropomorphic manner, depicting mating animals as romantic and/or sexual lovers which may be unsettling for some viewers.
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Does a kid die?
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Many of the meerkats which die are either pups or juveniles.
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Is there blood/gore?
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Meerkats are often shown injured, mostly via open wounds inflicted by other meerkats, as well as snakebites and a miscarriage. Small amounts of blood and pus are shown as a result of such injuries. Internal organs are occasionally seen in regard to the meerkats’ prey such as insects, small rodents and one bird.
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Does it have a sad ending?
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By the end of the series many fan favourites have died off and the groups are all struggling to survive with very few members, but hope in the meerkats’ resilience is offered and emphasised.
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Are there spiders?
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Spiders occasionally feature as they are part of a meerkat’s diet.
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Are there flashing lights or images?
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MeerKAB
Lightning storms are sometimes shown, edited in a manner which may be uncomfortable or triggering for those with epilepsy. Some of the action scenes are also very intensely edited, with multiple fast cuts which can be similarly overwhelming.
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Is there shakey cam?
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MeerKAB
As the camera crew often have to follow the meerkat groups on foot, the footage can be shaky in scenes away from the burrows such as those which feature running/chasing and fighting.
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Are there bugs?
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As a meerkat’s diet is largely comprised of insects, various kinds of bugs (including but not limited to ants, worms, millipedes and beetles) are shown in almost every episode.
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Is there cannibalism?
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There are at least three instances throughout the series where a meerkat individual or group kills and eats their rivals’ newborn offspring.
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Does the abused become the abuser?
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Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
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Is someone buried alive?
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Meerkats aren’t shown being buried alive in a dangerous context (sometimes meerkats are shown lying where relatives are digging sand out of the burrow entrances and they get partially buried in a manner where they can easily get out). However, there are many scenes of meerkats being trapped underground by predators, rival meerkats and/or environmental factors such as storms; these instances could be similarly uncomfortable or triggering.
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Is there amputation?
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Animals are occasionally shown being torn apart and eaten alive, including scenes of meerkat pups being cannibalised by a rival group and a single dismembered leg being shown afterwards.
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Does someone struggle to breathe?
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Especially in cases where a meerkat’s face is swollen via a snakebite, struggles to breathe are occasionally shown.
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Is there childbirth?
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Childbirth is frequently alluded to but only shown onscreen once - in Season 3, a female meerkat is shown giving birth (above ground in broad daylight) to some premature pups which quickly die.
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Is someone stalked?
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MeerKAB
There are some scenes where a situation is depicted as predatory via sinister music and ominous narration. This is often in relation to a dominant meerkat seeking out an subordinate to attack/evict, or a group of meerkats trying to find and gang up on a single intruding rival meerkat. This also occasionally applies to predators such as snakes and birds of prey (eg owls, eagle, hawk) when they are hunting the meerkats and other animals. Roving male meerkats are often shown relentlessly following their potential mates, but most of these instances are not framed as malicious by the narration or music.
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Does a woman get slapped?
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Does a parent die?
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Parental meerkats are shown to die throughout the series.
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Is there addiction?
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No addiction is depicted in the series.
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Does someone abuse alcohol?
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No alcohol or alcohol abuse is shown in the series although references are occasionally made; for example, one meerkat is named Grog, and drinking jokes are often made in relation to a trough where many of the animals go to seek water (eg calling it the “old country club”, saying a tortoise “couldn’t handle his drink” when it was slowly leaving etc)
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Is there a claustrophobic scene?
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There are scenes filmed inside the meerkats’ windy, narrow burrows (up to 2m underground), which can be uncomfortable or triggering for claustrophobic people.
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Are there abortions?
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There are no abortions featured, but meerkats are shown to miscarry their litters.
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Are there snakes?
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Snakes make relatively frequent appearances throughout the show. These appearances are often accompanied by meerkats sustaining snakebites (some of them being fatal), showing the bite site(s) being swollen and infected as well as the meerkats wincing and chirping in pain.
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Does someone fall to their death?
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No meerkat is shown falling to their death, but in Season 4 a meerkat named Sophie is shown falling from a tree and minorly injuring her front paw.
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Is someone kidnapped?
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In Season 1, a meerkat named Youssarian is shown “kidnapping” a litter of pups when he begins moving them to a new burrow, in what is depicted as an unhinged act committed without the group’s knowledge or consent.
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Does someone miscarry?
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While rarely shown onscreen, there are mentions of when a pregnant meerkat has miscarried her pups. In one instance, blood is shown on the mother meerkat’s rear after apparently miscarrying her litter overnight.
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Does someone spit?
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Meerkats are often shown spitting at predators such as snakes as a form of intimidation and self-defence.
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