A Meerkat Diary: My Journey into the Wild World of a Meerkat Mob

A diary is a terrific way to share an adventure. Award-winning wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas invites you along on this meerkat viewing experience with her personal enthusiasm and friendly, conversational writing style. In fact, from the first page, you can hardly wait to get started. She shares each anecdote about the meerkat mob’s daily life in detail, enhanced with candid photos of their activities.

You’ll meet three adults and five pups that have been given names according to their personalities. Once they become used to their human visitors, they go about their routines allowing close observation. You’ll watch as the youngsters learn to find food, recognize alerts for danger in the vicinity, and use play as a way of building skills. The story includes moments of tension when enemies approach, when flooding rains alter the landscape, and even when a herd of zebras race through the community. The author also visits a local indigenous village to meet and learn about the culture of the hunter-gatherers who inhabit the area.

The team of Motto (meerkat habituator) and Villa (naturalist guide) is interviewed about their work. Both from local villages, they are proud to provide these opportunities to teach visitors about threats to wildlife and the need for conservation of habitat.

Every page of A Meerkat Diary: My Journey into the Wild World of a Meerkat Mob is filled with excellent animated photos, mostly delightful close-ups of the animals. The double-spread ‘photo album’ of the pups as they are introduced has an extra dose of cuteness. Who wouldn’t be charmed by these lively, appealing critters that are such a vibrant part of the African wildlife community.

The author donates a portion of royalties from her books to Wildlife Conservation Network “which protects endangered wildlife in Africa and worldwide by providing local conservation organizations with funding and other resources.” Her commitment serves as a great role model for young people whose interest in animals might determine a future career.