Meerkats are highly social mongooses whose welfare is deeply affected by food availability and group cohesion. Droughts pose serious welfare threats to individuals and family groups.
Drought exposes individual meerkats to acute starvation, social conflict over limited food, and loss of family members whose cooperative behaviors are essential for survival. Pups dependent on helpers to provision them are especially vulnerable during food shortages. Dominant individuals may survive at the expense of subordinates through competitive exclusion from food. The long-term welfare consequences of drought extend beyond the dry period as weakened animals face elevated predation risk and reduced reproductive success. Conservation of meerkat welfare requires landscape-level approaches that maintain habitat connectivity and prey species diversity.