Meerkat colony welfare in zoos depends on maintaining natural cooperative group dynamics while managing the stress of dominant female suppression of subordinate reproductive activity.
Meerkat colony welfare reflects the complexity of social species management in captivity — the natural social system is itself a source of welfare stress for subordinate individuals. Cooperative care behaviors cannot be maintained without the dominance hierarchy that suppresses subordinate reproduction. Zoos must balance the welfare cost of subordinate reproductive suppression against the behavioral welfare benefit of natural social structure expression. The evidence base for optimal meerkat group composition and management is growing, with facilities that maintain appropriate group size and provide adequate space showing better subordinate individual welfare outcomes.