Meerkats are highly social with complex colony dynamics — their welfare in zoo settings depends on appropriate group management.
Meerkat welfare in zoo settings is generally achievable when facilities commit to appropriate group sizes with mixed ages and sexes, adequate sandy digging substrate, and exhibits with a warm, sunny aspect for morning thermoregulation. The sentinel behavior system means that meerkats in zoo environments benefit from elevated vantage points where this hardwired protective behavior can be expressed. The primary welfare challenge is reproductive management — the suppression of subordinate females by the dominant breeding female is a natural social dynamic that may require careful monitoring in captive groups where the usual dispersal options available in wild mobs are not present.