- [Narrator] A family of mongoose and a meerkat.
The animals are related, and they even look alike.
But they'd never live together in the wild. So what gives?
Well, let's start with Cameron.
Destined for life as the odd one out,
she's actually become the odd one in.
When she was only six months old,
Cameron and a mate were brought here
from a wildlife rescue that had run out of room.
They were to be released on a private reserve,
but sadly, her mate died, leaving Cameron all alone.
There were no other meerkats to keep her company,
but there were five mongooses of a similar age.
Could their similarities outweigh their differences?
- Meerkats, like banded mongoose, are highly social animals,
and their survival depends on being social.
She grew up with the original five mongoose that we had,
so she is part of the family,
a little bit the old member of the family,
but member of that family.
- [Narrator] Come on, who doesn't have a weird aunt
in the family?
(Cameron screeches and growls)
But every now and then, that aunt finds a way to shine.
For Cameron, that's usually around mealtime.
For the mongoose fam, food's priority number one,
but veggies won't cut it.
Fleshy worms, grubs, and insects are on the menu.
Hey, a dead bat. Bonus!
But while the rest of the clan are digging in,
Cameron has a job to do.
She's the sentry, or the lookout.
Meerkats live in open desert areas
where predators, particularly birds of prey,
are a constant danger.
So someone is always on guard duty.
To allow the group to eat in peace,
the sentry must be on high alert.
Looking out for her family is what Cameron was made for,
even if they happen to be of a different species.
Bellies fully loaded, the family's ready to move on.
It's a grab and go type breakfast for our little lookout,
but she's cool with that.
After all that eating comes, you guessed it, dozing.
And when it gets hot, most meal naps turn heavy.
So Cameron's still on the clock.
Oh, geez. Gettin' sleepy.
Lucky for her, the mongooses begin to stir.
Finally, Cameron can take a break.
(bright gentle music)
Now awake and full of energy, next on the agenda: fun.
Play bolsters the bond between family members.
Even though she's exhausted,
Cameron can't resist getting in on the action,
and there's an added benefit
to all this close physical contact: scent sharing.
Every member of the family has the same smell,
helping them identify one another.
Even in Cameron's case, her mongoose brothers
and sisters don't see or smell her as a meerkat.
She's simply one of them.
She even steps in as the babysitter from time to time.
See, Cameron's been one of the family for six years,
and in that time, her mongoose family members
have multiplied from five to 50.
Banded mongooses typically help each other raise kids,
and so Cameron's got her little hands full.
But it's a small price to pay
to be everyone's favorite aunt.
- Cameron doesn't have youngsters of her own,
so she can help other mongoose to raise their children.
(gentle pleasant music)
If there wouldn't be for the mongoose,
she wouldn't have a family.
So she gets what she actually needs
as a highly social animal.
She has a family.
It's a surrogate family, but in her eyes,
I suppose, it's perfect.
She might speak with a meerkat accent,
but she thinks she is a mongoose,
and they consider her as being part of the family.
- [Narrator] Guess the moral of the story is
if it kinda looks like family and kinda smells like family,
(laughs) and heck, if it puts in the work
to help feed the family, well then,
that's what you call family.