Can you have a pet Meerkat (in the US)?

Question

http://bali.co.kr/zoo/image5/%B8%F9%B1%B8%BD%BA24Meerkat.jpg

If so, how much do they cost, and how are they to raise?

Answer 1

This is what we tell people at the Zoo.

All wild animals are just that...........Wild animals and should be left that way. Remember that all animals have teeth and teeth bite. You can have a pet for 10 years and it never bite anyone.....but it can on year 11. Never say Never. There is a food chain and a purpose for all species. Humans are causing the destruction of this by caging wild animals and loss of habitat. Please consider all this prior to purchasing a Meerkat.

Also, they are a huge responsibility. Are you ready to spend the time caring for it that is necessary. Many people get these and other animals only to find they dont have the time nor patience to care for it and bring them to the zoo. Zoo's do not have the room for them because all animals require a certain amount of room and can not build a new exhibit for each animal donated. Also, by buying and selling animals it puts a price on their head making them valuable and can be hunted to extintion or breed to much where there is an over population of them and being released into the wild without being bred with the necessary survival skills that would be taught to them by the parent. Meerkats are highly social animals....Are you prepared to have more than one? They live in burrows? How will you provide for that? They are food thiefs....beware!!!! They are insectivores............They feed on insects, also on other invertebrates, mice, eggs, small birds, lizards and snakes. Are you prepared to handle all those things to provide your Meerkat a proper diet?

From me......

Imagine yourself being brought to a foreign country taken out of your habitat and lifestyle and put into a cage to be gawked at.....How would you feel?

If you read all that Kudos to you. My suggestion if you are still insisting that you have one go to your local zoo and talk to the zoo keeper of the meerkats and ask how they raise them and for suggestions! You might call first to try to set up an appropriate time.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if they are legal, but either way, I wouldn't suggest having one as a pet....just like any other wildlife....they are meant to be wild....they are used to haing wide plains, so life in a cage, would be torture.