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85-655: Situated at the Kuruman River Reserve in Northern Cape , South Africa , close to the border to Botswana , the project is jointly funded by Cambridge University and the Kalahari Research Trust . The project was founded in the early nineties by researchers (Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock) at Cambridge University . It was originally based on the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park , but in 1993 moved to

170-652: A Silver Statue for Writing at the 2006 Omni Awards. The eighth episode of series three, "Journey's End", which depicts the death of Whiskers matriarch Flower, was awarded the 2008 Wildscreen Festival Panda Award in the Five Award for Popular Broadcast Programme category. Meerkat Manor was a two-time Gold Medal winner in the Nature & Wildlife category at the New York Festivals Award Gala, in 2006 for series one, and again in 2007 for series one and two. The series

255-500: A better life"), is in the Nǀu language of the Nǁnǂe (ǂKhomani) people. It was given in 1997 by one of the language's last speakers, Ms. Elsie Vaalbooi of Rietfontein , who has since died. It was South Africa's first officially registered motto in a Khoisan language . Subsequently, South Africa's national motto , ǃKe e ǀxarra ǁke , was derived from the extinct ǀXam language . The Northern Cape

340-600: A big issue in the province. Unemployment was reported to be at 24.9% during Q4, 2013. Unemployment also declined from 119,000 in Q4, 2012 to 109,000 in Q4, 2013. The Northern Cape is also home to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is located 75 km North-West of Carnarvon . The economy of the Northern Cape relies heavily on two sectors, mining and agriculture, which employ 57% (Tertiary Sector) of all employees in

425-552: A book entitled Meerkat Manor – The Story of Flower of the Kalahari was released in the UK, detailing the life of Flower and the Whiskers before the series' filming began. A television film, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins , documenting Flower's birth and rise to matriarch of the Whiskers, aired on Animal Planet on 25 May 2008. A theatrical photo realistic-animated feature film based on the series

510-603: A closer, more personal view of the meerkats. The animals are humanized by being given individual names and personalities and by narrativizing the plots of their specific social relationships, blurring the line between nature documentary and reality television . Viewers describe being emotionally involved in the animals' lives, sometimes forgetting they are watching a nature documentary. The meerkats' frequently short lives and brutal deaths become surprising and disturbing to some audiences. This format, considered experimental for its time, has been both praised and criticized for expanding

595-457: A dominant female and male, who maintain almost exclusive rights to have offspring. The group followed most closely is known as the Whiskers family. This group was chosen because of its matriarch Flower, an unusually successful dominant female who led the group for five years. During series three, Flower died from a snake bite and was succeeded by her daughter Rocket Dog. Animals in neighbouring groups were highlighted in each series as well. In

680-466: A feature film for Discovery Films that acts as a prequel to the Meerkat Manor series. Originally announced as Flower: Queen of the Kalahari , Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins was directed by Chris Barker and Mike Slee and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg . The film documents Flower's early life as she grows from a young meerkat to become one of the most successful leaders of the Whiskers clan. The film

765-467: A higher proportion of the population in the Northern Cape than in any other province except for the Western Cape . In the 2022 census, 54.6% of the population reported their first language as Afrikaans , 35.7% as Setswana , 4.5% as Xhosa , and 2.4% as English . The Northern Cape is the only province in which native Afrikaans-speakers form a majority of the population. It is also the province with

850-446: A long-term, intimate look into the lives of its meerkat stars, breaking the traditional wall between viewer and subject found with most documentaries. Meerkat Manor was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards : two in 2007 and one in 2008. It won awards at the 2006 Omni Awards, and at the 2006 and 2007 New York Festivals TV Broadcasting Awards. The first three series have been released to DVD in both Region 1 and Region 2 . In 2007,

935-573: A majority in the provincial legislature, the ANC reached an agreement with the Democratic Party (DP), which voted for the ANC's Manne Dipico as premier in exchange for the election of the DP's sole MLP, Ethne Papenfus, as speaker of the legislature. The National Party formed the official opposition. In the 1999 provincial election , the ANC substantially increased its vote share and won an overall majority in

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1020-459: A new musical score. The Whiskers story was simplified, with the Lazuli being the only rival group to appear in the film. Unlike with the Meerkat Manor series, the film does not actually depict any of the real Whiskers meerkats. Untrained "meerkat actors" play the role of Flower and her family, with the camera crew searching out appropriately-aged meerkats, then following them until the meerkats acted in

1105-458: A new series subtitled onscreen as Rise of the Dynasty (as Channel 5 listed the programme just as Meerkat Manor ). The 13-part series was again narrated by Nighy, and was shown by Channel 5 every weekday in the 6.30pm slot usually featuring quiz show Eggheads , with the last episode going out on Wednesday 15 December 2021. The Rise of the Dynasty series was made by Oxford Scientific Films (with

1190-405: A sound track. Manor is both brutal and melodramatic and thus more devastating than most documentary or scripted drama. A book written by Professor Tim Clutton-Brock entitled Meerkat Manor: The Story of Flower of the Kalahari ( ISBN   0-297-84484-9 ) was released in the UK in a hardback edition on 4 October 2007. The book focuses on Flower's life and the story of the Whiskers, tracing how

1275-454: A staff researcher. There is also usually a South African technician responsible for project logistics, 6–8 post-graduate interns from Europe or South Africa , and a number of doctorate and independent researchers carrying out their own research in the area. There are rarely fewer than 10 people working in the project area at any given time. The principal investigators of the project are Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock , Professor of Animal Ecology at

1360-632: Is a legally independent, but functionally integrated, sponsoring organization of the project that was founded in Switzerland on 23 November 2007. Through this website, the Kalahari Meerkat Project releases information about the meerkats, including life history updates for all of the individual meerkats and the meerkat groups being studied, updates on the current groups, historical information on lost groups, and basic information about meerkats. The project uploads its own photographs and video footage of

1445-675: Is dominated by the Karoo Basin and consists mostly of sedimentary rocks and some dolerite intrusions. The south and south-east of the province is high-lying, 1,200–1,900 metres (3,900–6,200 ft), in the Roggeveld and Nuweveld districts. The west coast is dominated by the Namaqualand region, famous for its spring flowers. This area is hilly to mountainous and consists of granites and metamorphic rocks . The central areas are generally flat with interspersed salt pans. Kimberlite intrusions punctuate

1530-477: Is in development at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation as of April 2024. Meerkat Manor was created by Caroline Hawkins, executive producer and series editor at Oxford Scientific Films, and commissioned for Animal Planet International by executive producer and commissioning editor Mark Wild. Filming for a 13-episode series took seven to eight months, and was limited to the Kalahari spring and summer seasons, as meerkats are less active during winter. Series three

1615-693: Is the Orange (or Gariep ) River Basin, draining the interior of South Africa westwards into the Atlantic Ocean. (The political philosopher Neville Alexander has used the idea of the 'Garieb' as a metaphor for nationhood in South Africa, a flowing together, in preference to the rainbow metaphor where the diverse colours remain distinct). The principal tributary of the Orange is the Vaal River , which flows through part of

1700-520: Is the basis of the economy in the southern Karoo areas of the province. 30°S 22°E  /  30°S 22°E  / -30; 22 Meerkat Manor Meerkat Manor is a British television documentary produced by Oxford Scientific Films that premiered in September 2005. Originally broadcast on Animal Planet International for four seasons, until its cancellation in August 2008,

1785-730: The Afrikaner people in the province. The Northern Cape is also the home of over 1,000 San who emigrated from Namibia following the independence of the country; they had served as trackers and scouts for the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War , and feared reprisals from their former foes. They were awarded a settlement in Platfontein in 1999 by the Mandela government. The precolonial history of

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1870-880: The Augrabies Falls , and seldom actually flowing into the Orange River, is the Molopo River , which comes down from the Kalahari in the north. With its tributary, the Nossob River , it defines part of the international boundary between South Africa and Botswana . Further tributaries of the Molopo River include the Kuruman River , fed by the Moshaweng River and Kgokgole River , and the Matlhwaring River . Flowing west into

1955-584: The Congress of the People (COPE), a new splinter party from the ANC, had a strong showing and replaced the DA as the official opposition. Jenkins was later replaced as Premier by Sylvia Lucas in 2013. The 2014 election saw the ANC returned to power once again with an increased mandate, while DA once again became the official opposition, after the collapse of COPE. The newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also entered

2040-603: The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) won a seat in the legislature for the first time since 2004. Zamani Saul replaced Lucas as premier after the election. The Northern Cape Province is divided into five district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 27 local municipalities : Population 50,000+ Population 10,000+ Population < 10,000 As reported by the Northern Cape Provincial Government, unemployment still remains

2125-526: The Great Karoo are major transport nodes between Johannesburg , Cape Town and Gqeberha . Kuruman can be found in the north-east and is known as a mission station. It is also well known for its artesian spring and Eye of Kuruman . The Orange River flows through the province, forming the borders with the Free State in the southeast and with Namibia to the northwest. The river is also used to irrigate

2210-564: The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature . The premier then selects the members of the provincial Executive Council (cabinet). The current premier is Zamani Saul of the African National Congress (ANC), who has held the position since 2019. The provincial legislature is elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation . In the most recent provincial election, held in 2024 ,

2295-578: The University of Cambridge , and Prof. Marta Manser, Professor of Animal Behavior at the University of Zurich . The KMP study encompasses 16 groups of meerkats, with six living exclusively on the reserve and the rest having ranges that extend into the surrounding farmland. Most members of the groups are familiar enough with the human researchers that they are undisturbed by their presence and are relatively easy to touch and collect samples from. Extremely accurate life history records are kept for each meerkat in

2380-567: The diamond rush to the Kimberley area resulted in industrial archaeological landscapes in those areas which herald the modern era in South African history. The Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province, and distances between towns are enormous due to its sparse population. Its size is just shy of the size of the American state of Montana and slightly larger than that of Germany. The province

2465-506: The rap group of the same name), one of the sisters who started the Starsky group, was renamed Whoopi in the US as a tribute to actress Whoopi Goldberg , an early fan of the series. Animal Planet US has also renamed some of Flower's pups born in series three after two other celebrity fans of the show, Elizabeth Taylor and Denis Leary . Several episodes were renamed: the title of the final episode of

2550-463: The ANC won a plurality of the vote but failed to win an overall majority of seats. After the election, the ANC declined to form a formal coalition, but the ANC's Zamani Saul was reelected as premier with support from the Patriotic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus . The Democratic Alliance (DA) is the second largest party in the province and forms the official opposition . The results of

2635-655: The Atlantic, in Namaqualand , is the Buffels River and, further south, the Groen River . Mostly arid to semiarid, few areas in the province receive more than 400 mm (16 in) of rainfall per annum and the average annual rainfall over the province is 202 mm (8.0 in). Rainfall generally increases from west to east from a minimum average of 20 mm (0.79 in) to a maximum of 540 mm (21 in) per year. The west experiences most rainfall in winter, while

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2720-489: The Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center were filmed against a green screen . The show was primarily filmed using Sony DSR-570 cameras, although special equipment was needed for some unique footage. For scenes inside the animals' burrows , mini fibre-optic infra-red cameras were employed; wide-angle shots were filmed with a seven-metre crane and a remote-controlled camera platform. An off-camera wireless microphone

2805-498: The Kalahari Project scientists a chance to uncover aspects of meerkat life never before seen, including life within the burrows. The film crew was also the first to capture meerkat infanticide on film. While many documentaries maintain an emotional distance from their subjects, Meerkat Manor , due to its extended length, soap opera -like narration, romanticization of the animals' lives, and close-up filming techniques, provides

2890-515: The Karoo rocks, giving the province its most precious natural resource, diamonds . The north is primarily Kalahari Desert, characterised by parallel red sand dunes and acacia tree dry savanna. Northern Cape has a shoreline in the west on the South Atlantic Ocean. It borders the following areas of Namibia and Botswana: Domestically, it borders the following provinces: The major river system

2975-542: The Kuruman River Reserve, an area spanning approximately twenty square miles of semi-arid area of the Kalahari Desert on either side of the mostly dry Kuruman River . The reserve consists primarily of sparsely vegetated fossil dunes that flatten out near the river, which is usually dry. The project is now part of the university's "Large Animal Research Group" headed by Tim Clutton-Brock , FRS , who has headed

3060-521: The Langeberg Mountains, but with evidence of influence as far as the Upington area in the eighteenth century. From that period the archaeological record also reflects the development of a complex colonial frontier when precolonial social formations were considerably disrupted and there is an increasing 'fabric heavy' imprint of built structures, ash-heaps, and so on. The copper mines of Namaqualand and

3145-497: The Lazuli burrow, killing a pup and badly wounding the babysitting adult. The Commandoes became the new major rivals in the area, killing the pups of evicted Whiskers female Mozart and taking over some of the Whiskers' territory. The Whiskers' new neighbours were the Zappa and the Starsky. Although smaller than the Whiskers, the Zappa attacked frequently, and when they fled after one attack,

3230-502: The Meerkat project since 1993. The project usually has 10–15 volunteers who form the main meerkat project staff. They are supervised by a Field Coordinator and a Field Manager. Volunteers come from all over the world and the project is regularly hiring volunteers (see http://www.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=volunteers ). In addition to the core researchers, Earthwatch volunteers aid in collecting research data after being partnered with

3315-825: The Northern Cape from the vicinity of Warrenton . The Vaal, in turn, has tributaries within the province: the Harts River and the Riet River , which has its own major tributary, the Modder River . Above the Orange-Vaal confluence, the Seekoei River drains part of the northeastern Karoo into the Orange River above the Vanderkloof Dam . Next downstream from the Orange-Vaal confluence is the Brak River , which flows nonperennially from

3400-417: The Northern Cape is reflected in a rich, mainly Stone Age, archaeological heritage . Cave sites include Wonderwerk Cave near Kuruman, which has a uniquely long sequence stretching from the turn of the twentieth century at the surface to more than 1 million (and possibly nearly 2 million) years in its basal layer (where stone tools , occurring in very low density, may be Oldowan ). Many sites across

3485-614: The United Kingdom, Animal Planet started broadcasting it on its national channels in Australia, Canada, and the US. It has since been rebroadcast in more than 160 other countries. The fourth, and final, Animal Planet series aired initially in the United States from 6 June 2008 to 22 August 2008. In August 2009, it was reported that the programme had been cancelled by Animal Planet. In 2021, Meerkat Manor returned to British TV screens with

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3570-415: The Whiskers – in a rare occurrence – adopted an abandoned Zappa pup. The Starsky group, on the other hand, was no threat to the Whiskers. Formed by a trio of Flower's daughters permanently evicted from the Whiskers, the small group was ravaged by illness, predators, and a lack of new pups. The constantly struggling Starsky succumbed in the penultimate episode, with the death of the last survivor, Mozart, who

3655-432: The boundaries of both the nature documentary genre and the conventions of reality TV. Like the meerkats, Manor is an odd beast. The crew is forbidden to intervene, and the producers don't sugarcoat the animals' less cuddly habits (infidelity, abandonment of young, occasional cannibalism). But the meerkats are named and given human traits ("courageous," "caring," "bully[ing]"), and their antics and tragedies take place over

3740-455: The case of Driekops Eiland near Kimberley), in a river bed. In the north eastern part of the province there are sites attributable to the Iron Age such as Dithakong . Environmental factors have meant that the spread of Iron Age farming westwards (from the 17th century – but dating from the early first millennium AD in the eastern part of South Africa) was constrained mainly to the area east of

3825-534: The east receives most of its moisture from late summer thunderstorms. Many areas experience extreme heat, with the hottest temperatures in South Africa measured along the Namibian border. Summers maximums are generally 30 °C (86 °F) or higher, sometimes higher than 40 °C (104 °F). Winters are usually frosty and clear, with southern areas sometimes becoming bitterly cold, such as Sutherland , which often receives snow and temperatures occasionally drop below

3910-489: The ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of the cooperative nature of meerkats. The original programme was narrated by Bill Nighy , with the narration redubbed by Mike Goldman for the Australian airings and Sean Astin for the American broadcasts. The fourth series, subtitled The Next Generation , saw Stockard Channing replacing Astin as the narrator in the American dubbing. In 2021, Nighy could be heard narrating

3995-480: The first series, a group called the Lazuli were shown frequently in competition with the Whiskers family, and the opening credits referred to them as the "neighbours from hell". Although their dominant male Big Si died between series, the Lazuli appeared in the second series, mostly as a source of roving males. Another group called the Commandos, led by a one-eyed male named Hannibal, introduced themselves by attacking

4080-493: The gene pool by saving a weaker meerkat [or] affecting the outcome of what's natural in the Kalahari." As the research project is monitoring "...the breeding success and survival of individuals and ... the factors that affect reproduction and survival", interfering in the natural processes would render the research results invalid. There is one exception to this rule: researchers will euthanize meerkats that contract tuberculosis in order to prevent outbreaks that would threaten both

4165-470: The group started, providing a timeline of Flower's life, and detailing all of the pups she had over her lifetime, as well as their current locations. The book also gives more background on how the Kalahari Meerkat Project started, the research goals and results, and researchers' personal lives. A paperback edition of the book was announced for release in the United States by Simon & Schuster through their Touchstone imprint on 15 April 2008. The US release

4250-401: The latter was sometimes edited for length to allow for commercial breaks. Content was also sometimes altered; mating scenes in particular were often removed from the US version. Animal Planet US occasionally changed the names of meerkats and episode titles. Two of Flower's pups were renamed from Ren and Stumpy to Len and Squiggy; the title of the episode was also changed. De la Soul (named for

4335-399: The legislature for the first time. Sylvia Lucas was re-elected to her first full term as premier. In the 2019 election , the Northern Cape was considered competitive, with the DA hoping to win the province. In the end, the ANC returned as the majority party, albeit with a reduced majority. The DA was once again the official opposition with an increased seat total. The EFF made gains, while

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4420-466: The many vineyards in the arid region near Upington . Native speakers of Afrikaans comprise a higher percentage of the population in the Northern Cape than in any other province. The Northern Cape's four official languages are Afrikaans, Tswana , Xhosa , and English . Minorities speak the other official languages of South Africa and a few people speak indigenous languages such as Nama and Khwe . The provincial motto, Sa ǁa ǃaĩsi 'uĩsi ("We go to

4505-591: The master rights belonging to BBC America ) and featured three mobs of meerkats, with the groups being given the names Whiskers, Hakuna Matata and Ubuntu. Although the show faced criticism from viewers for not intervening when a meerkat was injured and faced death, Meerkat Manor enjoyed considerable success and was Animal Planet's top series in October 2007, both on the cable channel and through its video-on-demand service. The show's experimental format broke new ground in animal documentary filming techniques and gave viewers

4590-533: The meerkat population and nearby cattle. Meerkat Manor was nominated in 2005 for a Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Award in the Animal Behaviour category, and again in 2007 for Best Original Score. At the 2006 Wildscreen Festival , the series was a finalist in three categories: Animal Behaviour, Innovation, and Popular Broadcast. The series won Gold Statues in Natural History and Cinematography and

4675-500: The meerkats for narration, arguing that researchers' names were too limited, often relating to spices and food condiments. Because of these changes, fans of the series who seek information on the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project website sometimes have trouble locating particular animals. The project has created a list of alterations to help viewers connect the animals on the show to their real-life counterparts, and to match episodes to

4760-499: The meerkats, available for viewing for free. In April 2008, the site began selling "Friends" packages to offer a way to support the project. The Friends package includes additional project information not published on the site, as well as detailed information comparing the actual project meerkats to their counterparts in Meerkat Manor . On 8 June 2008, the site was expanded to include a virtual store, powered by Zazzle , through which

4845-492: The monthly KMP Life History reports. The list, however, is only available to paying members of their website. Two of the major Whiskers family rivals were composites, created with footage and blended stories from multiple groups. For example, the Commandos group on the show uses some of events from the real Commandos group, but was primarily shown with footage from the Vivian research group – including its dominant couple. Similarly,

4930-418: The most recent provincial election in 2024 are as follows: The ANC consistently has been the largest party in the Northern Cape since the end of Apartheid, although its position has been less dominant than it traditionally has been in most other provinces. In the first democratic provincial elections in 1994 , the ANC emerged as the largest party but failed to win an overall majority of seats. In order to form

5015-405: The new series of Meerkat Manor when it was broadcast in the United States on BBC America and on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, making it the first time that both television markets have used the same voice over on the programme. Meerkat Manor premiered in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2005, and the first 13-episode series concluded on 24 October 2005. With the success of the programme in

5100-525: The population described themselves as being atheist, agnostic, or having no religious affiliation. The Northern Cape provincial government is based in Kimberley , the provincial capital. The Northern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa also sits in Kimberley. Like South Africa's other provinces, the Northern Cape has a parliamentary system of government, with the provincial premier elected by

5185-468: The programme had a revival in 2021 with the programme now known as Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty in some countries. Using traditional animal documentary style footage along with narration, the series told the story of the Whiskers, one of more than a dozen families of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert being studied as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project , a long-term field study into

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5270-406: The project offers a variety of custom meerkat items. Proceeds from the items go to support the project and the Friends program. Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( Afrikaans : Noord-Kaap [ˈnuərtkɑːp] ; Tswana : Kapa Bokone ; Xhosa : Mntla-Koloni ) is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa . It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province

5355-438: The province, mostly in open air locales or in sediments alongside rivers or pans, document Earlier, Middle and Later Stone Age habitation. From Later Stone Age times, mainly, there is a wealth of rock art sites – most of which are in the form of rock engravings such as at Wildebeest Kuil and many sites in the area known as ǀXam -ka !kau , in the Karoo . They occur on hilltops, slopes, rock outcrops and occasionally (as in

5440-429: The province. Most famous for the diamond mines around Kimberley , it also has mining activities for Manganese and iron ore. The Northern Cape also has a substantial agricultural area around the Orange River , including most of South Africa's sultana vineyards. Some Wine of Origin areas have been demarcated. The Orange River also attracts visitors who enjoy rafting tours around Vioolsdrif . Extensive sheep raising

5525-418: The provincial legislature. Thereafter the ANC would continue to maintain a majority in the legislature until 2024 . After the 2004 election , the ANC's Dipuo Peters replaced Dipico as Premier, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) replaced the New National Party as the official opposition. Following the 2009 election , which was again won the by ANC, the ANC's Hazel Jenkins became the new Premier, while

5610-420: The researchers, the dominant female of each group is fitted with a radio collar, as are some dominant and roaming males. The meerkats – especially younger animals – are marked with dye to differentiate them. As the meerkats are habituated, they would tend to ignore the camera crew as long as their "personal space" was respected. The UK and US versions of the show have the same content for most episodes; however,

5695-462: The second series was changed from "The Killing Fields" to "The Quiet Fields". During the third series, the third episode's title was changed from "Something's Got to Give" to "Sister Act" (another Goldberg reference ), while the sixth episode's title changed from "The House of Zappa" to "Sibling Rivalry". The show follows several groups of meerkats, who act communally for the benefit of the groups in which they live. These groups are typically led by

5780-473: The second-highest proportion of Setswana speakers, after North West province. The population of the Northern Cape is overwhelmingly Christian . As of the 2022 census, 97.8% of the population described themselves as Christians , the highest proportion among South Africa's provinces. Among other religions, 0.8% of the population described themselves as Muslim , and 0.7% of the population stated that they practiced Traditional African religions. Only 0.3% of

5865-463: The show for its non-interference policy with regard to the meerkats, asking why the film crew and researchers do not give anti-venom to snake-bitten meerkats, or euthanize those dying and suffering. US Executive Producer Mick Kaczorowski pointed out that Meerkat Manor was a show about the real lives and deaths of the meerkats. The research group has a policy against film crews interceding in natural events "because they don't want to have an effect on

5950-409: The show in favour of more unusual events. The meerkats are all named by Kalahari Meerkat volunteers; the individual who first sees a new litter emerge from the burrow is awarded naming rights. This has produced a variety of names, frequently drawn from volunteers' favourite books, movies, musical groups, family and friends, historical figures and geographical locations. Animal Planet sometimes renamed

6035-469: The show's Zappa group was mostly presented using footage from a group called "The Young Ones" (named after the British television show ); however, the actual story and dominant pair were from the real Zappa Group. Axel, the abandoned pup from series three, has a research number that indicates he was probably a Young Ones pup, rather than being a Zappa as the show claims. Meerkat Manor has been well received by viewers and critics alike. In October 2007, it

6120-574: The show, and a memorial sequence for Flower. Building on the success of Meerkat Manor 's unique format, Animal Planet commissioned two similarly formatted programmes: Orangutan Island , which focuses on a group of orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, and Lemur Street , which looks at the lives of two rival gangs of ring-tailed lemurs in Madagascar . Some fans have criticized

6205-623: The south and is in turn fed by the Ongers River , rising in the vicinities of Hanover and Richmond respectively. Along the Orange River near the town of Kakamas , the Hartebeest River drains the central Karoo . Above Kenhardt the Hartebeest is known as the Sak River , which has its source on the northern side of the escarpment, southeast of Williston . Further downstream from Kakamas, below

6290-465: The study populations, including the recording of births, deaths, pregnancies, lactation and oestrus cycles, changes in social status and group affiliation, and any abnormal behaviors or activities. The project team offers film crews and wildlife photographers the chance to film the habituated groups of meerkats at the reserve. The KMP meerkats have been the subjects of several documentary programs, including: In May 2010, Lapland Studio announced it

6375-503: The −10 °C (14 °F) mark. As of the 2022 census , the Northern Cape had a population of 1,355,629, an increase of 18.3% from the prior census in 2011 . It is least populous and by a considerable margin the least densely populated of South Africa's nine provinces. The median age is 27, an increase of 2 years from 2011. In the 2022 census, 50.1% of the population described themselves as Black African , 41.6% as Coloured , 7.3% as White and 0.8% as Indian/Asian . Coloureds form

6460-562: Was Animal Planet's top series, with an audience of more than four million in the United States alone. In the United States, its first episode was viewed by one million viewers, and the second and third series premieres were watched by approximately 800,000 viewers each. The fourth series premiere did not fare as well, with fewer than 500,000 viewers. The viewership of the on-demand video offerings for Meerkat Manor grew 20% in September 2007, when Discovery offered each third series episode, video capsules of series one and two, top ten moments from

6545-427: Was also used to record many meerkat vocalizations, only partially audible to cameras' on-board systems. Most filming was done by a single cameraman and a single sound engineer; researchers have required a minimal human presence to avoid stressing the animals. Eye-level shots were difficult to achieve at times, due to the meerkats' small size and the limited height of even the smallest tripods. For tracking purposes by

6630-435: Was entitled Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari ( ISBN   1-4165-8767-5 ). In November 2007, Discovery Communications announced that it was partnering with Activision to make a video game based on Meerkat Manor as the first in a new series of nature-based games. The announcement stated the game would be released to multiple platforms in late 2008, but no game was ever released. Oxford Scientific Films produced

6715-403: Was filmed from November 2006 through April 2007, and Series four began filming in October 2007. Most scenes were filmed on location at the Kuruman River Reserve, where the Kalahari Meerkat Project that the meerkats are a part of is based. However, the meerkats seen in commercials and on the show's website were not the same animals portrayed in Meerkat Manor . Instead, tamer-rescued meerkats from

6800-673: Was introduced at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight section, and then aired in the United States on Animal Planet on 25 May 2008 as a lead-in to a thirty-minute Making of Meerkat Manor: the Story Begins special. It was released to Region 1 DVD in North America on 3 June 2008, with the Making of Meerkat Manor special, and another special, The Science of Meerkat Manor , included as extras. The film included re-edited footage and

6885-567: Was killed by a jackal . Former Whiskers female Maybelline broke away from the group at the end of the third series, forming a new group called the Aztecs which became the Whiskers' rivals in the fourth series. While the show portrays real events among the Kalahari Meerkats, it also removes repetitive elements of the animals' lives. Because many days are filled with behaviour related to grooming and foraging, these routines were often left out of

6970-688: Was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007 , one for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming and one for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming, and again for Outstanding Cinematography in 2008 . In 2009, the series was awarded the Grand Award at the New York Festivals International Television Programming and Promotion Awards in the Family Programmes category. Meerkat Manor 's innovative new methods of filming allowed

7055-511: Was one of three provinces made out of the Cape Province in 1994, the others being Western Cape to the south and Eastern Cape to the southeast. Politically, it had been dominated since 1994 by the African National Congress (ANC). Ethnic issues are important in the politics of the Northern Cape. For example, it is the site of the Orania settlement, whose leaders have called for a Volkstaat for

7140-516: Was releasing a video game entitled Lead the Meerkats for the Nintendo Wii and would be donating proceeds from copies sold on the first day to the project. Clutton-Brock and Evi Bauer, president of the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project, expressed excitement over the games release as a way to educate people about meerkats through a fairly realistic game. "Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project"

7225-502: Was split up. Its capital is Kimberley . It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park , part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and an international park shared with Botswana . It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and Alexander Bay . The Namaqualand region in the west is famous for its Namaqualand daisies . The southern towns of De Aar and Colesberg found within

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