Animal Planet hires Morongo meerkat maven

By Jutta Biggerstaff / Hi-Desert Star

Published: Wednesday, June 7, 2006 3:08 AM CDT

MORONGO VALLEY - Animal Planet has selected Pam Bennett-Wallberg, director of the Fellow Earthlings Wildlife Center, to act as spokesperson for its new series called “Meerkat Manor.” The 13-part series premiers Friday on the Animal Planet Channel. Check local listings for time.

The nature program will follow the daily lives of a group of meerkats, called a mob, in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa. The series was filmed as part of a study by Cambridge University.

Bennett-Wallberg spent some time studying meerkats in Africa and was invited to join the Cambridge group in the Kalahari. She visited the site where “Meerkat Manor” was filmed and interacted with the mob featured in the program.

Bennett-Wallberg will not appear on the documentary, but will promote it through various magazine, television and newspaper interviews.

Her connection with meerkats has brought her some incredible experiences, including research trips to Africa, working with Disney on “The Lion King,” having her work highlighted by National Geographic and now being chosen as spokesperson for Animal Planet's new show.

“I'm black and blue from pinching myself," she said.

According to its Web site, the Fellow Earthlings Wildlife Center, founded in 1989, is the only privately licensed facility that specializes in caring for meerkats. As a non-profit facility, the center relies on donations. For $100, members of the public can adopt a meerkat and share an interactive experience with them in their enclosures. The meerkats do not go home with their adopters, however. As friendly and intelligent as they are, they do not make good pets.


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