List of Meerkat Manor episodes

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Region 2 (Europe) Official Series 1 DVD cover

This is an episode list for the on-going British documentary Meerkat Manor. The programme, which is in its fourth series, was created by Caroline Hawkins, executive producer and series editor at Oxford Scientific Films,^[1] and commissioned for Animal Planet International by executive producer and commissioning editor Mark Wild.^[2] The original episodes are narrated by Bill Nighy. The Australian and American channels redubbed the episodes using their own narrators. the Australian episodes are narrated by Mike Goldman. In the US, episodes for the first three series were narrated by Sean Astin. For the forth series, Astin was replaced with Stockard Channing.^[3] Meerkat Manor is also broadcast in more than 160 countries.^[4]

The show premiered on Animal Planet International in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2005, and the first 13-episode series concluded on October 24, 2005. With the success of the programme in the UK, Animal Planet began broadcasting Meerkat Manor on its national channels in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The programme premiered in the United States on June 9, 2006, with the first series airing through August 25, 2006. The second series aired simultaneously in both the US and the UK, starting September 29, 2006. The third series premiered in the US on August 10, 2007, followed in the UK on September 10, 2007, and in Canada on October 3, 2007. Because each channel had different broadcasting schedules, the UK sequence of new episodes ended well before those in the US and Canada. The fourth series premiered in the United States on June 6, 2008 with the subtitle of The Next Generation.^[3] As with the third series, the forth will air in the US before it airs in the UK.^[5]

Notable merchandise based on the series include multiple DVD episode sets covering the first three series released in two regions, an upcoming feature film that will be a prequel to the Meerkat Manor series,^[6] and a book by Professor Tim Clutton-Brock entitled Meerkat Manor - The Story of Flower of the Kalahari (ISBN 0-297-84484-9).^[7]

As the show is based in the United Kingdom, this article refers to seasons as series. In the case of changes made in the American broadcast, the title it aired under in the US will be listed below the original title, while meerkat name changes will be noted in the episode summary.

1 Series
2 Distribution
- 2.1 Online episodes
- 2.2 DVD releases
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Series

Series		Episodes	Year aired	DVD Releases
Series		Episodes	Year aired	Region 1 (DVD-R)	Region 1 (Regular)	Region 2 (Europe)
	1	13	2005	November 30, 2006^[8]	October 9, 2007^[9]	September 4, 2006^[10]
	2	14	2006	March 8, 2007^[8]	April 8, 2008^[11]	November 5, 2007^[12]
	3	13	2007	November 22, 2007^[8]	June 17, 2008^[11]	June 23, 2008^[13]
	4	13^[14]	2008	—	—	—

[edit] Series 1: 2005

#	Original Title (top) US Title (bottom)	UK airdate	US airdate
1.1	"A Family Affair"	September 12, 2005	June 9, 2006
Flower, the matriarch of the Whiskers meerkat group, brings her three-week old pups above ground for the first time. One of Flower's oldest daughters, Tosca is pregnant. While the Whiskers are out foraging, Flower's teenage pups, led by Kinkajou, grab Mitch and taken him from the babysitting burrow to play. When they get bored, they abandon Mitch in the desert, but he is found by his older brother Shakespeare who carries him home. Three days later, the Whiskers are out foraging when they come upon a puff adder in one of their bolt holes. During the futile battle to remove the snake, Shakespeare is bitten on his face and thigh face and, unable to keep up with the foraging group, must limp his way home alone.
1.2	"Love Thy Neighbour" "Love Thy Neighbor"	September 12, 2005	June 9, 2006
Severely weakened Shakespeare is unable to go foraging, so his sister Mozart stays with him to keep him company and act as his protecter. Having given birth during the night, Tosca is emerges from the burrows late and joins the already foraging Whiskers. Though Tosca makes apologetic gestures and noises, Flower attacks her when she smells the pups on her. Carlos, a roving male from a rival group called the Lazuli, finds the Whiskers' burrow, causing the babysitters to get nervous. One goes and brings back Flower and Zaphod, who quickly chase off the roving male before returning to the foraging group. With the Whiskers to the border between their territories, members of the Lazuli appear and challenge the Whiskers. Though they quickly retreat after the Whiskers take up the challenge, the Lazuli return again with their full group. After a short fight, the Lazuli are forced to retreat again. As the sun sets, Carlos returns to the Whiskers burrow, meeting with Flower's young daughter Daisy and mates with her.
1.3	"Some Like It Hot"	September 19, 2005	June 16, 2006
Four days since he was bitten by a snake, Shakespeare is still partially paralyzed and starving from being unable to eat. His sisters Mozart and Tosca continue to watch over him as he goes to forage for food early in the morning. Shakespeare is temporarily separated from his sisters while he's out, but Tosca finds him and they are quickly reunited. Though resources are scarce, Flower allows Tosca's four pups to live, as well as four pups Mozart gave birth to overnight. The next day, after being humiliated by Zaphod, nervous natured Yossarian returns to the burrows and pulls all of Tosca and Mozart's newborn pups out of the burrow to initiate a burrow move. The babysitters and Tosca are confused and begin trampling the pups, and leave them lying under the scorching desert sun.
1.4	"Revolution"	September 19, 2005	June 23, 2006
One of Flower's teenage sons ends the chaos and leads the other babysitters in moving the pups to the burrow entrance. When Flower and the remaining Whiskers return, Flower quickly moves the pups back below ground. The next day, Flower's four pups go on their first foraging trip. After a few days of being snubbed for his attempted burrow move, Yossarian again drags Mozart and Tosca's helpless pups above ground to initiate a burrow burrow move. This time the babysitters go along with the plan, picking up the pups and following Yossarian's lead. Along the way, they pass the foraging Whiskers. Seeing Flower furiously descending on them, Yossarian drops the pup in his mouth and slinks off. Flower and Zaphod reassert their dominance over the babysitters, then lead the group to a new burrow. However, no one notices the pup Yossarian dropped until they reach the new burrow and Mozart realizes one of her pups is missing. She goes out to search for it, but can't find it and the pup dies.
1.5	"Childhood's End"	September 26, 2005	June 30, 2006
Flower's pup Mitch attacks one of Mozart's seven-week old pups. Shakespeare joins the family in a foraging trip for the first time since being bitten by a snake. All of the pups are taken with the family on the day's foraging trip. While the group takes a mid day break, Flower viciously attacks Mozart and evicts her from the family, forcing her to leave her pups behind. With thunder storms approaching, the Whiskers take shelter for the night in an empty Lazuli burrow. In the morning, the Whiskers claim the burrow for their own. Hours into the day, the Lazuli appear and attempt to retake the burrow. After a lengthy, ferocious battle, the Lazuli retreat, giving over that part of their territory to the Whiskers.
1.6	"Boys Will Be Boys"	September 26, 2005	July 7, 2006
Pregnant again, Flower evicts Tosca from the Whiskers and joins Mozart in following the Whiskers and watching their pups from a distance. While out foraging, the Whiskers accidentally cross into the territory of a neighboring meerkat family called the Gattaca, a small group with only a few adults. After some brief war displays, the Whiskers leave, but Yossarian and Big Will stay behind to look for Gattaca females without success. They are eventually run off by the Gattaca males. Mitch eats something that makes him very sick, to the point he can barely move. He manages to drag himself to the burrow for the night. During the night, Mitch recovers while Flower gives birth to a new litter of four pups. After Mozart carefully approaches Flower and makes extensive apologetic gestures, she is allowed to return to the group. Later in the day, Carlos, the wandering Lazuli male who previously impregnated Daisy, approaches the Whiskers den and mates with Mozart.
1.7	"Divided Loyalties"	October 3, 2005	July 14, 2006
Flower and Zaphod are finding it more difficult to control the now forty strong Whiskers. While the entire group are out foraging, the group begins to split into two. Seven meerkats, including Zaphod and Mozart and two other adults, stay near Flower, while the rest of the Whiskers wander in another direction and end up a mile away at the Whiskers favorite watering hole. The larger group, primarily made of teenagers, doesn't post any sentries and come under attack from Big Si and the Lazuli. Confused, the group flees in a blind panic, going even further from Flower and the others. Flower's group waits at the burrow that night for the others to return, but they do not. The larger "Splinter" group, successfully escaped the Lazuli. Daisy, showing signs of pregnancy, assumes leadership of the group, and Yossarian tries to woo Daisy into accepting him as her dominant male. Tosca finds the Splinter group, but stays at a distance.
1.8	"The Good, The Bad, And The Desperate"	October 3, 2005	July 21, 2006
Tosca, who was evicted from the Whiskers, reappears and deposes the more timid Daisy as leader of the Splinters. The Whiskers and Splinters are reunited, with Flower resuming her leadership of the group. Flower viciously re-evicts Tosca from the group. Though Daisy is pregnant from her encounter with Carlos, Flower allows her to stay in the group.
1.9	"Daisy's Choice"	October 10, 2005	July 28, 2006
Daisy gives birth to her new litter of pups, but she gives birth in the wrong burrow. With the rest of the Whiskers in another burrow, Daisy and her pups are alone and in danger. However, Yossarian finds Daisy and helps her carry her pups to the Whiskers burrow. The next day the babysitters initiate another burrow move and Daisy's pups are left behind. Daisy stays behind with her pups, but eventually abandons her pups and rejoins her family. Too young to survive on their own, the pups die.
1.10	"Flower Power"	October 10, 2005	August 4, 2006
Flower has her next litter of pups. When she goes foraging with the group the next day, Tosca's young sons Jogu and McMurphy are left behind as babysitters. Bored and hungry, the two abandon their duty and go off by themselves, leaving the newborns unprotected. Shakespeare returns to the burrow, though, and takes over babysitting. While out foraging, the Whiskers find a burrow containing a litter of Lazuli pups and kill them all. Tosca makes an attempt to rejoin the Whiskers, but is fiercely rebuffed.
1.11	"An Awfully Big Adventure"	October 17, 2005	August 11, 2006
Now three weeks old, Flower's newest pups are almost old enough to go foraging. One of the pups, Columbus, decides he's ready to go foraging and sneaks away from his babysitters to go out on his own. He is found and rescued by Shakespeare, who takes him back to the burrow to rejoin his siblings and the other babysitters. The next day an eagle owl threatens the group, requiring them to sneak around it to get back to their home burrow.
1.12	"The Calm Before the Storm"	October 17, 2005	August 18, 2006
Realizing Flower will never allow her back into the Whiskers, Tosca begins to search for a roving male to start a new group with. The Lazuli come into the Whiskers territory while the Whiskers are out foraging. They find the Whiskers burrow, guarded by lone babysitter Shakespeare. When the Lazuli dominant male Big Si comes into the burrows, Shakespeare puts himself between him and the young pups to protect them.
1.13	"Moving On"	October 24, 2005	August 25, 2006
The Whiskers return and rout the Lazuli invading their burrows. The pups are alive, however Shakespeare is nowhere to be found. The next day, the group goes foraging, taking the pups. They stumble onto an area with multiple raptors, but Mitch saves the day by leading them into a nearby bolt hole. Yossarian runs into roving male Carlos and chases him off. Carlos runs into the lone Tosca and mates with her. Flower leads the Whiskers to a new burrow. Shakespeare is not seen again, and the narrator notes that he may have died underground in his battle with Big Si.

[edit] Series 2: 2006

#	Original Title (top) US Title (bottom)	UK airdate	US airdate
2.1	"Cold Comfort"	September 29, 2006	September 29, 2006
Three months after the end of series 1, it is now late winter in the Kalahari. Neither Shakespeare nor Tosca have been seen by researchers between the filming sessions and both are presumed dead. The Lazuli group has also seen loses over the winter, with the death of their dominant male Big Si, who contracted tuberculosis and was euthanized to avoid an epidemic. His son JD has taken over as the group's temporary dominant male, but as the dominant female, Cazanna, is his mother, he can not mate with her leaving Cazanna on the hunt for a new partner. Whiskers male Yossarian makes his way towards the Lazuli and attempts to mate with Cazanna, but he is chased off by the Lazuli males. Yossarian later runs into and mates with Pancake, who was evicted from the Lazuli by Cazanna. Flower has a new set of pups.
2.2	"The Three Amigos"	September 29, 2006	September 29, 2006
Flower's newest pups are taken out on their first foraging trip, but the group is attacked by the Lazuli and are temporarily separated. The two groups are reunited on the way home and safely return to the burrow. The Whiskers are unaware that a Cape Cobra is sleeping in their burrow, but the night passes without any harm done. Meanwhile, two roving Whiskers males, Mitch and Big Will, join Yossarian in his quest for Lazuli females. All three take aim for Cazanna but are all driven off by the Lazuli males.
2.3	"Young Blood"	October 6, 2006	October 6, 2006
While out foraging, the Whiskers end up battling a bird for its eggs. While the bird is busy with most of the Whiskers, Einstein, Mitch's brother, manages to grab an egg for himself. A new rival group of meerkats, the Commandoes, appears and spends a night in an unoccupied Whiskers burrow on the edge of their territory. In the morning, the Commandoes, lead by Hannibal, their one-eyed dominant male, invades the Lazuli territory. They find the Lazuli burrow and kill one of the two Lazuli pups in the burrow and badly wound Marilyn, the Lazuli babysitter.
2.4	"Iron Lady" "The Iron Lady"	October 6, 2006	October 6, 2006
Pregnant again, Flower initiates a burrow move and is growing less tolerant of her daughters, Mozart, and Kinkajou. The Whiskers find some unprotected tortoise eggs and enjoy a rare treat, though the pups struggle to figure out the secret of cracking them open. Despite Flower's short temper, Mozart mates with Stinker, a Lazuli roving male and grandfather of Carlos. Flower attacks her and gives her a warning bite at the base of her tail.
2.5	"There's No Place Like Home" "No Place Like Home"	October 13, 2006	October 13, 2006
Mozart, now pregnant from her encounter with Stinker, has been evicted from the Whiskers by Flower. She struggles to find food and stay safe on her own while wounded from Flower's attack. Flower steals food from some of the younger Whiskers pups as her time to delivery her newest pups come closer. The rains arrive, ensuring plenty of food for all, and Flower gives birth to five pups.
2.6	"When Flower Met Hannibal"	October 13, 2006	October 13, 2006
Mozart tries to rejoin the Whiskers while they are out foraging, but her efforts are thwarted by roving male Carlos, who keeps following her around and refusing to leave her alone. With his presence, she can't risk getting too close to the group and retreats. She later tries to sneak into the burrows but is unsuccessful. During a foraging trip, the Whiskers come under attack from a goshawk and are split into two groups. Flower and her pups end up taking shelter in a Commandoes burrow. Mozart miscarries her litter. The Commandoes return to their burrow to find the Whiskers there. They go on the attack and attempt to dig them out and kill the pups.
2.7	"United We Stand"	October 20, 2006	October 20, 2006
The Whiskers are able to win the battle against the Commandoes when the rest of the Whiskers rejoin Flower and the others. During the battle, one of the Commandoes dies. Mozart is allowed to rejoin the Whiskers. The Whiskers get into a confrontation with a Cape Cobra. After three weeks of drought, the heaviest summer rains in decades fall and Flower's five pups make their first appearance above ground.
2.8	"The Enemy Within"	October 20, 2006	October 20, 2006
Yossarian is left to babysit Flower's pups, but abandons them to look for Lazuli females. Pancake has been allowed to rejoin the Lazuli by Cazanna and gives birth to two pups. The Whiskers discover the Lazuli near their waterhole. The Whiskers chase off the Lazuli, but Flower decides to lead a deep invasion into Lazuli territory to chase them back further. During the battle, many of the Whiskers split off from the main group after they spot Yossarian in the distance and mistake him for a Lazuli male. Flower, having only a few adults with her now, is forced to retreat. After having to wait out a bad storm for a couple of hours, Flower's group safely return homes, while the Splinters spend the night elsewhere. Yossarian, having safely escaped the attacking Whiskers, spends the night alone in the Lazuli territory.
2.9	"The Art of Leadership"	October 27, 2006	October 27, 2006
With the Lazuli and Whiskers burrows too close for comfort, Flower initiates a burrow move even though the Splinter group hasn't returned yet. The adults carry the pups at first, but after an eagle owl is spotted in a bush, the adults must stay on high alert and the pups are left to run on their own. They safely reach a new den in the evening, but Flower also discovers that her daughter Mozart is pregnant.
2.10	"Balance Of Power"	October 27, 2006	October 27, 2006
Flower is pregnant again. The also pregnant Mozart begins over stepping her bounds and attempts to assert her own dominance over the Whiskers, particularly her sister Daisy. In a rare event for meerkat society, Mozart evicts her sister Daisy. Though Flower sees the eviction, she doesn't seem bothered by the actions at first. While out foraging, Flower kills and eats a bird, another rarity for meerkats. After a week apart, the Splinter group finds and rejoins the Whiskers. Flower lets Daisy rejoin the group and gives Mozart a punishing bite on the tail for her insubordination. While Yossarian is babysitting Flower's pups, her daughter Blossom wanders off but he is able to find her and return her home safely.
2.11	"Growing Pains"	November 3, 2006	November 3, 2006
The heavy summer rains have turned the Kalahari into a landscape of lush grass and beautiful flowers. The rich grass is too tall meerkats to see over, so the Whiskers must be extra vigilant while foraging. During the trip, however, Blossom gets too far from the others and can't find her way back. Her brother Mitch comes closer to reaching her, but turns back to the group before he gets within earshot. Without the protection of her family, Blossom is killed by a goshawk.
2.12	"The Godmother"	November 10, 2006	November 10, 2006
Flower gives birth to three pups. Mozart also gives birth to her own litter of pups. After a few weeks, Flower's pups emerge from the burrow and go foraging with the main Whiskers group. Mozart and her pups, who are too young to forage yet, are left behind at the burrow. At the end of the day, Flower leads the Whiskers to a new burrow, abandoning Mozart and her pups.
2.13	"The Killing Fields" "The Quiet Fields"	November 10, 2006	November 10, 2006
The lone Mozart struggles to care for her pups at the abandoned burrow. Initially she stays in the burrow to wait for her family returns, but hunger drives her to leave the pups to attempt to find food. The Commandoes, driven by a food shortage, cross into the Whiskers territory to forage. While foraging, they find Mozart's pups alone in the burrow and kill them all. Due to a tawny eagle flying over head, the Whiskers are forced to start foraging late. Daisy is left behind to babysit Flower's pups while the rest go out, unaware that the Commandoes are approaching their position.
2.14	"Meerkat Manor Re-Cap"		August 3, 2007
This special gives a summary of the major events that occurred in Series 2.

[edit] Series 3: 2007

For the third series, Animal Planet UK aired a new episode each weeknight, finishing the entire series run in less than a month. In the US and Canada, new episodes in the third season are aired weekly, on Friday and Wednesday nights respectively.

#	Original Title (top) US Title (bottom)	UK airdate	US airdate
3.1	"On Dangerous Ground"	September 10, 2007	August 10, 2007
The Whiskers are having to adjust to a hostile new territory after they were evicted by the Commandoes. Flower leads the Whiskers, including her new born pups, on a dangerous journey to try to find better living grounds. Along the way, they run into their new neighbors, the Zappa. They are able to win the fight relatively easy, however Flower's pups disappear.
3.2	"The Mission"	September 11, 2007	August 17, 2007
Sophie and Jogu guard Flower's pups as Mitch leaves to find the Whiskers. Flower leads the Whiskers into the Zappa territory to search for the lost pups. The evicted Zappa female Melanie visits the burrow, then leaves followed by Jogu who mates with her. The Zappa find the Whiskers scent marks and follow them towards Sophie and the pups. During his search, Mitch discovers the seven member Starsky group, formed by Mozart, who was evicted from the Whiskers three months ago and is pregnant, former roving Lazuli male Carlos, and Mozart's half sister Kinkajou, who is also pregnant. Sophie tries to call Jogu back, but her calls lead the Zappa to the burrow. Spotting the Zappa, Sophie rushes the pups into the deepest part of the burrow. Before the Zappa reach the burrow, the Whiskers arrive easily chase them off. Once again pregnant, Flower decides to make the new burrow their home. Mitch and Jogu safely return before night fall.
3.3	"Something's Got to Give" "Sister Act"	September 12, 2007	August 24, 2007
As the Starsky goes foraging, Kinkajou leads the group while the heavily pregnant Mozart makes no attempt to assert her dominance. The Zappa make another attempt to raid the Whiskers burrow and take back their territory. Babysitters Columbus and Daisy take the pups inside the burrow as the Zappa arrive and start digging their way towards the pups. The Whiskers return from foraging before the Zappa can get inside the burrow and the outnumbered Zappa quickly turn and flee for their lives. Mozart goes into labor while the Starsky are out foraging, but when she makes lead calls to encourage the group to return to the burrow, they ignore her. When night approaches, Kinkajou leads the group to an abandoned den instead of the burrow. Mozart reluctantly follows into the strange burrow and gives birth during the night. In the morning, the Starsky leave to go, again following Kinkajou's lead. Left alone, Mozart is forced to leave the pups unguarded while she goes to find food. When Kinkajou sees Mozart join the foraging group, she sneaks back to the burrow and kills all of Mozart's newborn pups. Having fed, Mozart returns as quickly as she can, but all she finds of her pups is a partially eaten paw. Kinkajou fully assumes the role of dominate female.
3.4	"The Death of Romance"	September 13, 2007	August 31, 2007
The Starsky group is looking for a new burrow again. Dominant male, Carlos is suffering from an infection in the bite mark left by Hannibal. Meanwhile, Houdini is roving around the Whiskers, but Zaphod has his guard down since his brother Yossarian had left for an extended roving trip. When Zaphod steals food from Flower, she forages away from him and is found by roving Zappa male Houdini. Houdini managers to mate with Flower before Zaphod spots him and chases him. Before the Starsky reach their new burrow, Carlos dies from his infection.
3.5	"Tale of Ren and Stumpy" "Tale of Len and Squiggy"	September 14, 2007	September 7, 2007
Ren and Stumpy, now three weeks old, venture out of the burrow for the first time.^[15] However, Stumpy was born with a deformed front leg. While foraging over a wide area, the Whiskers ends up splitting into two groups. Flower's daughter Rocket Dog leads the group that is with the pups. With resources scarce from a lack of rain, Rocket Dog leads her group on a foraging expedition and to a hopefully new, more promising burrow. Along the way Mitch is the only one of the group to try and care for the two pups and Ren is eventually picked off by a bird of prey. The group arrives at the new burrow without Mitch, who stayed behind in the desert with Stumpy. Eventually Mitch leaves Stumpy behind, who dies from starvation. Meanwhile, Flower has led the rest of the group to a burrow two miles (3 km) away from Rocket Dog's group. Houdini and some Zappa males manage to successfully mate with Maybelline, Daisy, and Rocket Dog.
3.6	"The House of Zappa" "Sibling Rivalry"	September 17, 2007	September 14, 2007
After getting bitten by a puff adder, Zappa dominant female Lola gets separated from the group for two days. Finally making her way back to her burrow, her sister Punk takes advantage of Lola's weakened state and takes over as dominant female after anal marking Lola. Houdini returns from his roving mission at Rocket Dog's Whisker Group and Frank is unhappy with the welcome his family gives him. After a short battle for dominance, Houdini chases Frank away and takes over as dominant male. The combination of Punk and Houdini make an ideal leadership pair for the Zappa, but a nightmare for the Whiskers.
3.7	"Heavy the Crown"	September 18, 2007	September 21, 2007
The food supply of Rocket Dog's group is dwindling, and Flower's group wanders back to their old manor in search of food. Instead, they find the familiar trough of water, only to be met by Hannibal and the Commandoes, who are experiencing the same crisis as the Whiskers. In a deadly battle, the Commandoes drive Flower's group from whence they came. Back at the new manor, Rocket Dog's stress of leadership causes herself to give birth to her premature pups above ground, who die. The rains come and flourish the manor, bringing the group back together. Rocket Dog hands leadership back to Flower without a struggle.
3.8	"Journey's End"	September 19, 2007	September 28, 2007
When the Whiskers fend off an attack from the Zappas they adopt Axle, a pup left behind as the Zappas fled. Returning to the burrow they chase off a Cape Cobra. However, the snake enters the burrow where new pups have recently been born. Flower goes in to protect the pups and is bitten in the face by the snake. Two days later, she succumbs to the poison and dies.
3.9	"A New Day"	September 20, 2007	October 5, 2007
Rocket Dog is the new leader of the Whiskers and, with the group numbering 40+ meerkats, the burrow is crowded and crawling with parasites. Rocket Dog initiates a burrow move, but her sister Maybelline chafes under her decision and is unwilling to move her two-week old pups. When Lyric tries to pick up one of Maybelline's pups to move it, Maybelline strikes out at him. Rocket Dog goes back to try to calm the situation, but without their leader in the front the other Whiskers get confused and the young pups are dropped everywhere. Zaphod, a veteran in burrow moves, picks up a pup and starts moving in the direction Rocket Dog had been taking them. Soon the rest of the group follows, including Maybelline. The next day, the Whiskers run into the Zappa group by the new burrow site and a battle ensues, which the Whiskers win.
3.10	"Farewell My Lovely"	September 21, 2007	October 12, 2007
With the death of Flower, Zaphod leaves the group to become a roving male, but his efforts to find a new mate in the Zappa group are thwarted by dominant male Houdini. The pups come out of the burrow for the first time on their own, and Wilson, a young roving male from the Commandoes is hanging around the Zappa group.
3.11	"Three Degrees of Separation"	September 24, 2007	October 19, 2007
The newest Whiskers pups go on a foraging trip and learn about life in the Kalahari. At the Starsky burrow, sisters Mozart, Kinkajou and De la Soul (called Whoopi in the US version) are the only members of the group left. They take the risk of going into the Commandoes territory to look for food and possible roving males, but run into the Commandoes group and are chased off. The three get split up during their flight. Mozart and Kinkajou eventually make it back to their burrow, but De la Soul never returns. Mozart and Kinkajou are dangerously underweight and two days after their flight, a storm sends them into a bolt hole to avoid the rain. During the night, Kinkajou dies. Alone, Mozart attempts to rejoin the Whiskers, but is chased off as an intruder.
3.12	"The Graduate"	September 25, 2007	October 26, 2007
Wilson, the roving male from the Commandoes, attempts to mate with Rocket Dog at the Whiskers burrow. Zaphod makes a surprising return to the family and resumes most of the duties of the dominant male, including running off rival males. However, Wilson runs into the lone Mozart at the Starsky burrow and gets a better reception. The Whiskers get to close to the Commandoes territory, and another clash ensues with the Commandoes running off the Whiskers. Wilson and Mozart are separated by the threat of a small brush fire, so Wilson returns to his group's burrow for the night. In the morning, he rushes back over to Mozart's burrow to find her dead from a presumed jackal attack.
3.13	"A Family at War"	September 26, 2007	November 2, 2007
The Whiskers group is now fifty members strong. New matriarch Rocket Dog is having troubles keeping things together while dealing with an increasingly rebellious Maybelline. Maybelline, determined to be a dominant female, breaks free from the Whiskers and takes some others in the group with her. This permanently splinters the Whiskers and Maybelline's new group is given the name Aztecs.

[edit] Series 4: 2008

#	Original Title (top) US Title (bottom)	US airdate
4.1	"To Have and Have Not"	June 6, 2008^[16]
Zaphod, the oldest and most experienced of Whiskers group, has been fitted with a radio collar. During the winter, most of Maybelline's Aztecs left and returned to the Whiskers and the burrowless group sleeps in a bolt hole. Rocket Dog is finding management of the 33 strong Whiskers difficult during the winter as food is in short supply. During their daily foraging trip, Mitch spots a roving male circling the Whiskers. Rocket Dog shows interest in the male as she needs a mate, but Zaphod quickly chases him off, with help from six other Whiskers males. During the chase, however, Zaphod and the others end up far from the rest of the family in unknown territory. The Aztecs are able to safely leave the bolt hold later in the day, and begin searching for a permanent burrow site. The Whiskers head back to their burrow and run into the roving male that Zaphod has chased off earlier, now accompanied by the remaining Commandoes group. Nikita, the dominant female of the Commandoes, leads her group in an attack against the Whiskers. With the loss of seven males, Rocket Dog chooses to flee instead of fight, and the Commandoes drives them completely out of their territory. As the now twenty-five member Whiskers group is forced to sleep in a bolt hold, the Aztecs successfully commandeer a new burrow from a yellow mongoose.
4.2	"All Manor of Love"	June 13, 2008^[16]
The seven member Aztecs settle into their new burrow. Wilson, from the Commandos, visits the Aztec burrow and mates with Maybelline. He begins scent marking the territory and other Aztec members to signify he is now the group's dominate male. Zaphod and his group of roving males arrive at the Aztec burrow as well. Zaphod and his group join the Aztecs without any struggle, but it is a futile take over as Maybelline is another of Zaphod's daughters. Zaphod's arrival sends Wilson running, leaving Maybelline without a partner again. Wilson makes his way to the Whiskers group, where he meets with and mates with Sophie, a subordinate female. Zaphod settles with the Aztecs, but the other males who came with him leave, recognizing that they cannot mate with their sisters. Wilson returns to the Whiskers with Sophie, and is quickly chased off by the Whiskers male. Rocket Dog attacks Sophie for mating with a rover.
4.3	"Rising Star"	June 20, 2008^[16]

4.4	"The Family Way"	June 27, 2008^[16]

[edit] Distribution

[edit] Online episodes

All episodes aired in the United States have been released for download from iTunes, except for the "Meerkat Manor Re-Cap" special from series 2. Discovery Channel's website also offers documentary videos featurettes about the series, top ten moments from the series, and a memorial sequence for Flower through their online video on demand system.^[17]

[edit] DVD releases

In Europe, DVD Region 2, Animal Planet International has released the first two complete series to DVD in the form of four disk series box sets.^[18] A special edition box set containing both series 1 and series 2 has also been released,^[19] as well as an intro disc containing the first three episodes of series one.^[20]

In Region 1, which includes the United States and Canada, Animal Planet US began releasing Meerkat Manor to DVD through its online store on November 30, 2006. Each set contained 3 discs with all 13 episodes of its respective seasons. The sets could also be purchased with an optional meerkat plushie and all three seasons can be purchased together in an "Ultimate Fan" collection.^[8] These sets were done in Discovery's usual "burn-to-order" fashion, in which the DVDs are burned to DVD when someone places an order. As such, they were only available on Discovery's online store and through Amazon.com. On October 9, 2007, Discovery began releasing the series in regular DVD season sets, through distributor Genius Products. The new sets featured new cover, a thinpak box design, and contained the same number of episodes, but on only two discs.^[11]^[21]