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Mabili Drie Doring
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Mob(s)
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Dominant
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Formerly of the Drie Doring
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Date of Birth
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November 15, 1993
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Date of Death
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January 19, 2006
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Cause of Death
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Suspected Old Age
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Parents
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VDF001 and VDM001
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Litter-Mate(s)
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Two brothers and one sister
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Mate(s)
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Children
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Known For
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Longest lifespan of a female meerkat.
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Also Known As
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Longest reign on record
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Drie Doring[]
Mabili(VDF005) was born in the Drie Doring Mob on the 15th of November, 1993. Her mother was VDF001, a wild female, and her father was VDM001, a wild male. They were the dominant couple of the Drie Doring. Mabili's littermates were VDF002, VDM003 and VDM005. Mabili and her siblings all survived to adulthood. In July 1995 VDF001 disappeared and Mabili took up dominance. However her position was regularly challenged by her sisters. She gave birth to her first litter in October 1995, but her pups were thought to have been killed by a rival female. Following this Mabili started to evict her rivals. In January 1996 Mabili gave birth to her second litter but they are lost, likely due to a group split. Her third litter born in March 1996 were also lost. In August 1996 Mabili finally gave birth to a surviving litter which consisted of Launette (VDF007), Melissa (VDF008) and Valiant(VDM017). At this stage Mabili's position was finally unchallenged, in some records this was considered the true beginning of her reign. In comparison, her three breeding males, Mad Max, Rambo and VDM015 were unsettled on dominance and competed viciously. The role of dominant male switched between the three during their time in Drie Doring, all the males had a chance to father Mabili's litters. In December 1996 Mabili gave birth to a litter of four, this was followed by a litter of five pups born in March 1997. That year she had one more litter which consisted of four pups, only two were named (after Australian marsupials). At the end of the year VDM015 secured his place as Mabili's main mate and father of future litters. In 1998 Mabili had three more litters, born in January, October and December. The October litter, which included Athene(VDF036), Hector(VDM037), VDM038 and VDM039, were nearly killed by a raiding mob but were saved by Arran. The December pups were all lost, they were the first pups Mabili was unsuccessful in rearing since 1996. In March 1999 Mabili gave birth to three pups while out foraging but promptly abandoned them for unknown reasons. Later, in August, Mabili gave birth to Burgan(VDM049), Cassia(VDM050), Acacia(VDF051), VDM052 and Mulga(VDM053). She had another litter in November 1999 though one was lost after being separated from the group. In 2000 Mabili had three more litters and her very first abortion. That same year VDM015 was lost, leaving the position of dominant male to Mad Max. January 2001 saw yet another litter of Mabili's born, this time contained three pups. Her next pregnancy resulted in abortion in June. In November, 2001, Mabili's son Mack left the Drie Doring to create the Zappa with Elveera females. That same month Mabili gave birth to a litter of six, all named after Harry Potter characters. They were nearly killed in a raid by the Drie Doring's main rivals at the time, Frisky Mob, however they were successfully defended by babysitters. In December 2001 Mabili's sons, Burgan and Cassia, left the group and founded the Moomins with Lazuli females. In January 2002 Mabili's newly born pups were killed by a subordinate female, it was the first time Mabili had lost a litter to infanticide in years. For the rest of the year she viciously evicted her subordinates to protect future litters. Mabili successfully conceived again in December, 2003 and gave birth to Makonkie(VDF089), VDP090, VDP091 and Cadw Mynd(VDM092). In 2004 Mabili had two more litters. That year her mate Mad Max was also overthrown by a large immigrant male, Osprey Lazuli. Mad Max lived on to become one of the oldest males studied at the Kalahari Meerkat Project. In November 2005 Mabili gave birth to her last litter, consisting only of two weak pups. Mabili was 12 years old at the time and was unable to lactate properly. As a result her two pups died of starvation. In spite her age, old Mabili fell pregnant again. She still managed to chase away rival subordinate females on the 18th of January 2006 and, as usual, joined the group in the sleeping burrow for the night, her position as dominant female still unchallenged. Upon emergence the next day Mabili was nowhere to be seen and her daughter Makonkie was establishing herself as the dominant female. It is thought Mabili had passed away in her sleep.
Legacy[]
Mabili Drie Doring
Mabili led the Drie Doring for over 10 years, the longest reign of any known meerkat. In that time she had 76 surviving offspring. Mabili holds the record for longest life span of a female meerkat monitored by the Project and second-eldest meerkat to be monitored of all time, falling behind Zaphod Vivian by a few weeks. Her daughter, Makonkie, became her successor, followed by Mabili's grand-daughter Mist. The Drie Doring persisted for over 22 years, making them the longest surviving meerkat group ever known. In that time the group only had five dominant females. Some of Mabili's descendants went on to become dominant animals in other groups such as the Nomads, Frisky and Zappa. A few of her great grandchildren became famous through their unique appearances, including Lucifer, born bright ginger, and Patch, born with a dark patch over her eye. Mabili's bloodline lives on today in other meerkat groups such as the Whiskers, Lazuli and Hakuna Matata among others.
Offspring[]
First litter born in August 1996, fathered by Mad Max, Rambo or VDM015
Launette (VDF007)
Melissa (VDF008)
Valiant (VDM017)
Second litter born on December 28, 1996, fathered by Mad Max, Rambo or VDM015
Islay (VDF018)
Jura (VDF019)
Coll (VDF020)
Tiree (VDF021)
Third litter born on March 10, 1997, fathered by either Mad Max, Rambo or VDM015
Iona (VDM022)
Arran (VDM023)
VDM024
Kilda (VDF025)
VDF026
Fourth litter born on August 28, 1997, fathered by Mad Max or VDM015
VDF027
VDM028
Kultarr (VDF029)
Kowari (VDM030)
Fifth litter born on January 11, 1998, fathered by Rambo
Paprika (VDF031)
Cinnamon (VDF032)
VDM033
VDM034
Chillie (VDM035)
Sixth litter born on October 9, 1998 fathered by VDM015
Athene (VDF036)
Hector (VDM037), one of the most successful roving males of all time, Last Seen in March 2003.
VDM038
VDM039
Seventh litter born on August 16, 1999 fathered by VDM015
Burgan (VDM049) first dominant male of the Moomins, predated in June 2007
Mabili as the dominant famale
Cassia (VDM051) Highly successful rover, Last Seen November 2003
Acacia (VDF051)
VDM052
Mulga (VDM053)
Eighth litter born November 6, 1999
Emily (VDF054)
VDM055
Charlotte (VDF056)
Byron (VDF057)
Dickons (VDM058)
VDF059
Ninth litter born January 23, 2000, fathered by VDM015
VDM060
VDF061
Tenth litter born April 12, 2000, fathered by VDM015
Churchill (VDF062)
Pavarotti (VDF063)
Balou (VDF064)
VDF065
Eleventh litter born September 5, 2000, fathered by VDM015 or Mad Max
Chastity (VDF066)
Virtue (VDF067)
Salacious (VDM068)
Prudence (VDF069)
Twelfth litter born January 31, 2001, fathered by Mad Max
Femaleseventy (VDF070)
Atlasdog (VDM071)
Alettasdahl (VDM072)
Thirteenth litter born November 10, 2001, fathered by Mad Max
Weasley (VDF073)
Harry (VDM074)
Hermione (VDF075)
Hagrid (VDM076)
Lupin (VDM077)
Snitch (VDF078)
Fourteenth litter born April 21, 2002, fathered by Mad Max
Stoney Tangoeasy (VDM079)
Nefaru (VDF080)
Askari (VDM081)
Mbili (VDF082)
Fifteenth litter born October 6, 2002, fathered by Mad Max
Azzy (VDM083)
VDM084
Shasta (VDM085)
Sixteenth litter born December 2002, fathered by Mad Max
Warlock (VDM087)
Mandrake (VDM088)
Seventeenth litter born on December 9, 2003 fathered by Mad Max
Makonkie (VDF089) the dominant female after Mabili, predated in October 2008
VDF090
VDF091
Cadw Mynd (VDM092) founder and dominant male of the Nomads Mob, died of TB in September 2006
VD?093
Eighteenth litter born March 1, 2004, mixed litter with her daughter Mbili
VDP094
Spacemonkey (VDF095)
Muesli(VDF096)
Sickleberry (VDF097)
Flossy (VDF098)
Maka (VDF099)
Nineteenth litter born on September 29, 2004, fathered by Mad Max
Gazebo (VDM102) dominant male of the Frisky, Last Seen in June 2011.
Lasanya (VDF101)
Chardonnay (VDF100)
Twentieth litter born on February 23, 2005 fathered by Unknown
Clarabella(VDF103)
Piripicchio(VDM104)
Ciancica(VDM105)
Twenty-first litter and last born on November 27, 2005, fathered by unknown
Poe (VDM106)
VDF107