Meerkats live in clans of three to fifty, with a single dominant female monopolizing 80 per cent of the breeding. The rest of the mob – her relatives, descendants and a few itinerant males – help out with territorial defence, sentinel duties, burrow maintenance, babysitting and even suckling the dominant’s pups. This kind of division of labour, where only a few individuals get to breed and the rest of the group helps, is known scientifically as ‘cooperative breeding’.
