Wilson, a male meerkat and the longest-lived in all of Europe, has died at 22 years and three months of age. It was one of the best-known animals at the Barcelona Zoo due to its long history and for having been expelled from its group. Few meerkats live that many years, so Wilson endeared himself to zoo visitors.
Meerkats are native to Wild Africa, specifically from the desert of the kalahari south of the continent. These small animals that became famous after the cartoon character Timon, are well known for their colorful and complex social structure that is based on matriarchy. The females dominate their herds and are in charge of establishing a strong group to face the predators of the desert.. Male nanites are even designated to care for the young while the females go hunting.
But within the matriarchy there is also exile. Although the dominant one is the female, the males fight to conquer the leader to belong to her herd, in that sense, the longest-lived males are banished from the group and they begin to live in solitude, vulnerable to predators.
The Barcelona Zoo has had a herd of meerkats since 1989, when the Madrid and Emmen (Netherlands) zoos donated specimens to it. Today they have a total of 13 meerkats, nine males and four females, all descendants of that first herd resulting from the exchange between parks through the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA).
Wilson’s Banishment
In 2014 the herd of meerkats at the Barcelona Zoo underwent important changes. The males entered into a dispute to mate with the leading female and in the process ended up relegating the banished two male meerkats, including Wilson, who was then 14 years old. The caretakers decided not to leave them stranded and housed them in another area of their facilities. However, Wilson’s companion moved in 2015 to a zoo in France, as he considered himself still of age to join his herd.
winson
Since then Wilson had lived away from the social pressures of his species, enjoying the tranquility in the company of his caretakers. In fact, thanks to this, he reached a very advanced age, just over 22 years old, which gave him the title of the longest-lived meerkat in all of Europe. This species of animals in normal conditions of freedom they reach an age of eight years. In captivity by not facing threats from wildlife, the chances rise to close to 15 years. However, Wilson’s meerkat exceeded all expectations and managed to live much longer than average.
Wilson spent his last days free of any social stress and died of natural causes as a result of his advanced age.
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