Watch These Meerkats Climb Ontop of A Photographer’s Head and Chill Out

Nothing is more pleasurable than connecting with our pets by playing and petting them physically. However, interacting with animals is more beneficial than just fun.

The National Institutes of Health states, “Interacting with animals has been shown to decrease levels of cortisol (a stress-related hormone) and lower blood pressure.” Let’s see how calm this photographer’s body could get when these meerkats joined him. 

Watch the Video Below!

Meerkats Sighting in Africa

The Instagram reel at the top of this blog post takes us to Africa. The African Animal Instagram page reposted this video to its followers of over a million and a half. This channel shares breathtaking images and interactive videos of animals such as lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, and gorillas. 

Meerkats Interacting With Photographer 

A safari guide and wildlife photographer, Nick Kleer, submitted this video to the African Animal Channel. His channel contains jaw-dropping footage of leopards, cows, birds, alligators, and elephants. 

As the video starts, we see Kleer low on the ground to capture great shots of these meerkats running around. The National History Museum shares that “Wildlife photographers can go to great lengths to achieve a prize-winning shot. Some will wait weeks in below-freezing temperatures or return to locations throughout a lifetime to capture rare or fleeting phenomena.” And Kleer was willing to do the same for the best shot possible. 

Instead, he was in for the surprise of a lifetime. The meerkats start to surround this photographer. Climbing on his head, back, and shoulders. They knew he was friendly and would let them play. 

Are Meerkats Social Animals?

Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) of the genus Suricata have three different species. These mammals are highly sociable and can have up to 30 members, although the usual pack size is 15. 

As social animals, they can assess danger very intuitively. The National Library of Medicine shares that their “results suggest that meerkats assess the risk for aggressive interactions with close associates depending on social circumstances and respond accordingly.” Relations between meerkat groups can be highly aggressive and can even reach lethal violence. Don’t let their socialness fool you from their ability to defend themselves!

We can see from the video posted at the top that these meerkats were able to quickly assess that this photographer was friendly, and they were able to show him some love. 

The photo featured at the top of this post is © sebast90/Shutterstock.com