The Cruises, Brangelinas and Lohans of the world may stir up paparazzi frenzy, but when it comes to fans, Meerkat Manor viewers are easily some of the most dedicated and passionate around. In fact, Meerkat mania has become so prominent that even late-night ABC News program Nightline is taking notice with a forthcoming special about the phenomenon. Self-proclaimed uber-fan Mary Xanthos, known among the Meerkat Manor online community as “Queenflower,” was interviewed for the segment, so we decided to interview her about her experience and her love for meerkats!
When did you first become a fan of Meerkat Manor, and meerkats in general?
I am a major animal lover and prior to becoming a veterinarian, I was an evolutionary biologist. I am very interested in how animal behavior evolves to benefit an individual’s survival. As you might guess, I love watching animal behavior documentaries. Prior to Meerkat Manor, I had been introduced to meerkat behavior briefly through my studies in graduate school and after I saw a couple of documentaries on meerkats (one from the National Geographic and the other from Wild Kingdom). I was fascinated by how meerkats developed a highly cooperative social structure in order to survive in such an inhospitable environment. But I wanted to learn more.
I remember seeing the advertisements in 2006 for the new upcoming series Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. I knew I was going to tune in to the first episode. The minute I heard Sean Astin utter the words “Meet Flower” I was hooked. We are now approaching Season 4 and I haven’t missed a single episode. In fact, like many of us meerkat lovers, I’ve seen every episode more times than I’d like to admit.
Mary "Queenflower" Xanthos Shows Her Meerkat SpiritWhat do you think are the most endearing qualities about meerkats?
Gosh, there are so many. For one, they are amongst the most adorable animals on the planet. They are 12 inches tall, two pounds in weight, and have the most adorable ears and soft brown eyes surrounded by black fur – much like sunglasses. And the pups ... a little ball of fluff approximately the size of an index finger. How cute is that?!
I love how a meerkat mob has close social bonds. I love how they groom each other and huddle all together in a giant ball of fur in the sleeping burrow to keep each other warm and protected. I find the extended family in the social unit very endearing. I love that there are babysitters who help care for the pups and that other females allolactate to help nourish the pups. As a woman, I find the idea of a matriarchal society quite endearing, but you might have guessed that!
Why do you think there’s such a fascination with meerkat culture?
I think there is a fascination with meerkat culture because nothing like this has ever happened before. I mean, there have been animal documentaries made before but Meerkat Manor is huge. And those of us who love meerkats, I mean we really love meerkats! I don’t know anyone who is a meerkat fan that is not an uber meerkat fan. People want to know why we are so crazy about meerkats. I think the success of the show basically lies with the animals themselves. Their cooperative society really lends itself to this soap-opera-esque story line we see on Meerkat Manor. I knew I was going to learn a lot about meerkats when I first started to watch the show but what I didn’t count on was how completely attached I was going to become to each and every one of them. Each meerkat became an individual animal, with a personality and a soul. That’s the thing with meerkat culture. These aren’t just a bunch of animals to us. These are individuals that we care about, empathize with, root for, laugh about, cry about … The list goes on. To many of us these animals become like family members. We worry when they are in danger, we cheer when things go well for them, and we grieve when one does not survive. This is meerkat culture.
One of the most well-known meerkats, Flower, touched the lives of many. What did you most admire about her?
Well, that’s a loaded question. Flower was my favorite meerkat. She is very dear to my heart and I still grieve her loss. It is so hard to put into words all that she meant to me and so hard to explain how a tiny animal on the other side of the planet that I never met in person could have such an impact on me. I will probably change my answer to this on a daily basis but what I most admire about her is all that she overcame in her life. She started out as the runt of her litter and went through every trial a meerkat could potentially go through only to become the dominant female of the largest mob in the Kalahari for five years. She had to make daily decisions about where to lead her mob, who to evict, which mob to challenge or back down from, which pups to allow to live, when to change burrows … The list goes on and on, yet most of us have trouble balancing our checkbooks. I don’t think there will ever be another meerkat like her. She was born to be the queen of the Kalahari. May she reign forever in our hearts.
Name your top three favorite Meerkat moments from past seasons.
I have to confess, this is an impossible question to answer. There is no way I can pick three favorite moments from the past three seasons, as there are so many and I’m sure they change on a given day. However, I will list three major Meerkat moments and I’m sure everyone on the forum can list at least 100 others that are equally great.
No. 1 is when Shakespeare survived the puff adder bite he received to his leg. (Where is Shakespeare?! We love you buddy!)
No. 2 is when Flower rejoined the Whiskers after being separated from them and deposed Tosca to the music from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It was then we knew Flower meant business. I will always love Tosca but there can only be one queen of the Whiskers.
No. 3 is when Zaphod and Mitch rescued Flower and the splinter group as the Commandos were flooding the bolt hole they were trapped in.
Do you host Meerkat Manor viewing parties? Any tips for how to put together one for current or new fans who might be interested?
Unfortunately, I do not host Meerkat Manor viewing parties, as I do not have any meerkat fans that live close to me. However, as a tip to putting together a viewing party, I would check the Animal Planet Meerkat Manor forum. There you can network with other like-minded Meerkat Manor fans in your area and get together for your very own night of meerkat fun. It has been through the Animal Planet Meerkat Manor forum that I have made some close friends and met many incredibly lovely people.
Which meerkat do you think you are most like, and why?
I think I am most like Mozart. I’m not the dominant type. I’m much too sensitive, shy and caring.
Tell us about your involvement with the East Coast Meerkat Society (ECMS) and the types of projects they do.
Back in November 2006, a bunch of us were on the Animal Planet Meerkat Manor forum chatting about how we should get together as little groups to go visit meerkats in zoos, since most of us were not in the position to jump on a plane and go visit them in the Kalahari. Cheryl Gaines gave us the official name and the first meeting was at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. My task at that time was to scope out the zoos in New York City that had meerkats because that is where the next meeting was going to be.
I remember finding out that the Staten Island Zoo had meerkats. So I took the ferry from Manhattan in the freezing November cold and made the journey to Staten Island. I didn’t care about the cold as I was so excited to get there and see some meerkats in person. When I got to the Staten Island Zoo, I froze in my tracks. I found three little shivering meerkats in a dark cement enclosure huddled up in a ball under a spotlight with no sand to dig in and no toys to play with. They looked miserable. I went home crying. I could not sleep that night. We had to do something.
Well, in true meerkat fashion, alarm calls were given out and the goal of the East Coast Meerkat Society suddenly became to make the lives of meerkats in captivity better. The Staten Island Zoo was incredibly cooperative and allowed us to raise the money and design the enclosure for the meerkats, who we dubbed “The Three Amigos” after the Meerkat Manor episode. We even took a vote on the forum and gave each of them names: They are Sebastian, Rupert and Jellybean. Between individual donations from meerkat fans on the forum, an eBay auction and from the sales of the ECMS first meerkat desktop calendar, we raised the money in six months for the enclosure.
On Sept. 29, 2007 – which was the day after we had to watch Flower die on Meerkat Manor – we had a nationwide meerkat meet-up at zoos throughout the country. At the Staten Island Zoo, we dedicated the new meerkat enclosure to our beloved Flower, and I tell you, she was certainly there with us in spirit that day. It was so thrilling to see the Three Amigos digging in the sand and burrowing and hiding in tunnels and doing all the wonderful things that meerkats do. Flower would be proud. Talking about meerkat culture, here is a perfect example of how a small group of regular people who were exposed to meerkats through Meerkat Manor banded together to make a real difference in the lives of three meerkats who really needed our help.
While the East Coast Meerkat Society basically started out with a few major planners – Cheryl and Gene Gaines and myself – we have grown into a large but informal group of meerkat lovers all over the world. We have over 400 members now. Our Web site can be found at www.meerkatsrule.org. There are no dues and the only requirement is a love for meerkats and a desire to help them. Our main goal is to help enrich the lives of meerkats in captivity by helping zoos in any way we can. We are currently in the process of getting involved with the Los Angeles Zoo to help a lone meerkat there whose name is Chico. More information on that and future projects can always be found at our web site.
What do you do when you’re not watching Meerkat Manor?
You mean there’s life apart from Meerkat Manor? Seriously, I am a full-time veterinarian and that keeps me very busy. I also enjoy reading (mostly nonfiction), bird watching and feeding squirrels in Central Park, walking my dog Rudy, and aimlessly wandering in the woods.
What are you looking forward to in the upcoming new season?
I am excited about Season 4, although it will be very difficult to move on without Flower and the other beloved members of the Whiskers that are no longer with us. But I am looking forward to getting to know a new group of meerkats, many of which are Flower’s progeny, and seeing what happens in their daily lives and how they struggle to make it in the vast and unforgiving land of the Kalahari. I will be rooting for all of them.
Meerkat fans, take note - the DVD of Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins includes the full, unedited version of the film with over 10 minutes of extra footage and other special features such as The Making of Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins and The Science of Meerkat Manor, plus a SNEAK PEEK at the new season! Get your copy today!
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