A trip down a meerkat tunnel and memory lane

There's a fantastic new BBC series out called Animals With Cameras which is well worth a watch.

The series, narrated by Gordon Buchanan was first aired on Thursday evening. Episode one follows three species of animal: the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), and the magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) via the attachment of body cameras. The footage gained from these cameras reveals an extraordinary insight into the secret underground, tree canopy and underwater lives of these animals.

Having worked as a six-month Field Research Assistant at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (where the meerkat footage was filmed), it's incredible to finally see the meerkats' underground world, consisting of a labyrinth of tunnels.

You can watch the first episode of the series on the BBC iPlayer here. For those of you who may not be able to view the episode abroad, or if you are reading this after the iPlayer episode has expired, you can watch a YouTube clip of the episode below:

Footage of meerkats pups - Animals With Cameras Episode 1 | BBC One (2018)

During my time at the Kalahari Meerkat Project, I managed to capture some of my own footage of newborn pups. In the video below, a subordinate meerkat prematurely brings a pup above ground  for the first time, before being ticked off by the dominant female of the group. Listen for the submissive grovelling noises made by the subordinate meerkat before the dominant female (wearing the VHF collar) takes charge of the situation by administering a headbutt.

Meerkat pups tend to be born by the dominant female of a group (also known as a mob, gang or clan) and subordinate 'helper' meerkats assist in their upbringing. Pups are blind for the first two weeks of life and do not usually leave the burrow for a further week after gaining sight. The pup shown in this video is almost certainly only a few days old - far too young to be out in the open!

A meerkat pup's first emergence. Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) | 16th March 2013

The first episode of Animals With Cameras also features my undergraduate dissertation supervisor Professor Rory Wilson talking as enthusiastically as ever about magellanic penguins in Argentina. Take a look at this video for some hilarious interview-interrupting penguin footage. This video has since gone viral on the BBC's Facebook page!

Interrupted by penguins, Professor Rory Wilson tries to continue the interview - Animals With Cameras Episode 1 | BBC One (2018)

Professor Rory Wilson lectures at Swansea University and specialises in the study of animal movement, especially of marine species such as penguins and sharks. He undertakes much of his research using biotelemetry equipment such as dive computers and activity sensors. For my undergraduate dissertation, Rory supervised my research on the movement of 12 domestic cats in my local neighbourhood by attaching GPS collars - slightly different from Rory's usual aquatic research!