Meerkat sentinel behavior is embedded in complex group dynamics where welfare of all individuals depends on the social health of the entire group, illustrating collective welfare in social species.
Meerkat welfare operates at both individual and group levels simultaneously. Individual meerkats have welfare states influenced by their dominance position, reproductive status, and access to food and social support. Group welfare — the collective functioning of the social unit — determines the baseline welfare available to all members through effective predator detection, pup care, and food acquisition. Groups at or above optimal size provide the best individual welfare outcomes for all members. Groups reduced by predation or disease provide poorer welfare for all remaining individuals even before any individual succumbs. Conservation and welfare interventions that protect group integrity and size therefore benefit all individual group members simultaneously, illustrating the collective dimension of welfare in highly social species.