THE BUSHY-TAILED OR ROOI MEERKAT 
(Cynictis penicillata typicus) 
Tue Bushy-tailed Meerkat, which is also known 
to colonists as the Rooi or Red Meerkat, and to the 
Amaxosa natives as the Igala, is not the one which 
makes such a gentle and affectionate pet, and which 
is known, if not by sight, at least by reputation, 
to most South African colonists. The Bushy- 
tailed Meerkat seen in the distance is reddish- 
yellow in appearance, but on close inspection it 
proves to be a dull orange-yellow colour. It is an 
inhabitant of the eastern parts of the Cape Province, 
extending north through the Orange Free State, 
the high veld of the Transvaal, Bechuanaland, and 
the Kalahari, to Lake Ngami. 
On the karoo in the western parts of the Cape 
Province it is replaced by the well-known Slender- 
tailed Meerkat, which colonists capture and 
tame. The latter has, however, extended into the 
Eastern Province of the Cape, as far south as 
Uitenhage and Alexandria, where its species is now 
abundant. 
The Rooi Meerkat lives in colonies of a score and 
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