Lazuli Mob

General

Members

Chronology

Famous Meerkats

Gallery

Lazuli Mob
Date of Forming	October 1995
Founders	Ziziphus, Lazuli and Belgarion
Dominant Female(s)	Lazuli , Ziziphus,Haslam Cazanna, Aretha, Young , Christiana, JubJub Bird, Elise the Great, Minnie, Filthy McNast, Sigma and Dumpling.
Dominant Male(s)	Belgarion, Raul, Basil, JD, Padloper, J. Alfred Prufrock, Machu Pichu Wollow, Rufus, Eigg, Jazzy Jeff, LLCoolj, Polon, LLCoolj and Odin.
Current Dominant Female	Dumpling
Current Dominant Male	Odin
Number of Members	25
Pregnant Meerkat(s)	Dumpling
Evicted Meerkat(s)	Ma Di Tau, Ruby and Heimdall
Roving Meerkat(s)	Moteck and Taco
Absent Meerkat(s)	None
Pup(s)	None

The Lazuli Mob is one of the most successful groups of meerkats that inhabit an area of the Kalahari Meerkat Project. The Lazuli are also among the oldest groups, and they are currently the oldest living group. It was formed in October 1995 by two Avatar females Lazuli and Ziziphus and wild males. The group was named after the first dominant female Lazuli however she was soon overthrown by her sister Ziziphus who became the long-term dominant female beside wild male Belgarion. After their deaths, Haslam became the dominant female with an Elveera male. However, she was overthrown by Cazanna who would eventually become the long-term dominant female. She was soon joined by a Vivian male named Basil who was dominant male for four years until his death. JD, Padloper and J. Alfred Prufrock all held male dominance after. After Cazanna was taken by disease, her daughter Aretha lead the Lazuli, and she was succeeded by her niece Young. For two years the group was led by brothers and sisters, then change came in mid-2008 when five former males from the Whiskers joined the group. Wollow became the dominant male, but he was ousted Machu Pichu, who in turn was overthrown by Rufus. For a short period, Eigg filled in as dominant male, but eventually, the role was returned to Rufus. After the death of Young and Rufus, Christiana became the dominant female, but she never had a mate by her side. After Christiana's death in 2014, JubJub Bird and VLM209 established dominance. The Lazuli's bloodline has extended to many other groups due to successful dispersal. The Lazuli are currently one of the most famous groups at the Kalahari Meerkat Project.

Dominance

The Lazuli was first led by Lazuli, an Avatar female whom the group was named after. However, she was overthrown by her sister Ziziphus. Wild male Belgarion managed to hold on to his status as the dominant male. Ziziphus ruled the Lazuli from 1995 to 2000. When Ziziphus died one of her daughters Haslam took over but Cazanna overthrew her taking dominance. Two rovers from the Elveera quickly joined the group where Raul became the dominant male. His reign was short and after four Vivian males, who had recently left the Whiskers trying to find better mating opportunities, soon joined the group and kicked the Elveera males out. Basil became the dominant male for many years till he died of disease in July 2005. His eldest son JD took dominance but later left to rove and he was succeeded by his younger brother Padloper. In December 2006, Cazanna died of disease and her daughter Aretha became the new dominant female. After Padloper was predated, J. Alfred Prufrock took over as the new dominant male till he and the other adult lazuli males left the group. Aretha died in May 2008, Young took dominance since she was the oldest female still in the group. Then in June, a month after Aretha died, five Whiskers males joined the group. At first, Machu Pichu assumed dominance but he was quickly ousted by his nephew Wollow. After a year and a half as the dominant male, Wollow was overthrown in February 2010 by his cousin Rufus. In June 2011, there was a dominance fight between the two last Whiskers' males leaving the dominant male position unclear so natal male Eigg assumed the role for the time being. Rufus re-established dominance of the Lazuli again while Eigg handed male dominance back to Rufus without a fight. Rufus and Young held dominance until early 2013 when Young was found dead. Her eldest daughter Christiana became the new dominant female in her place. Rufus was then predated in August 2013, leaving the group with no dominant male. Several wild males and a Baobab male joined the group in September, but none of them established dominance. After the death of Christiana in March 2014, JubJub Bird and Jazzy Jeff became the dominant couple, however, a year later in April 2015, Jazzy Jeff was replaced by LLCoolj. JubJub Bird disappeared and Elise the Great took her spot. Elise the Great would be Last Seen in two months after she took dominance. Minnie would take dominance after that in February 2017. However in February LLCoolj and several males left the group, and several young JaXX males joined the group. 10-month-year-old Polon of the JaXX took dominance in February. After being predated in August 2017, Filthy McNast took up dominance from Minnie. In May 2019, Filthy McNast disappeared, leaving the position of dominant female vacant, and Sigma became the new dominant female of the group. On December 13, 2019, Polon was preyed upon, leaving the group without a dominant male. However, in that same month, some wild males joined the group, but it was not until April that they were officially named, and in June 2020, Odin assumed the role of dominant male. The following month, the group split, and when they reunited, Captain Barbosa, one of the wild males who joined, attempted to take on the role of dominant male. However, Odin retained his position as the group supported him.

Current Members

In August 2023, the Lazuli had 25 members. Below is an official list from April 2013:

Dumpling (VLF272), Dominant Female.

Dumpling (VLF272) Dominant Female

Odin (VLM266)Dominant Male

Odin (VLM266)

Moteck (VLM261)

Sigma in 2019

Taco (VLM273)

Pichu (VLF274)

Phar Lap (VLF275)

Ma Di Tau (VLF278)

Lord Escort (VLM282)

Tuna Fish IV (VLM283)

Fergus (VLF286)

Girdle (VLM287)

Ruby (VLF288)

Chicken (VLF289)

Monster (VLM290)

Thor (VLM292)

Brynhildr (VLF293)

Mist (VLM294)

Heimdall (VLM295)

Heimdall (VLF296)

Heimdall (VLM295)

Coffee (VLF297)

Kush (VLM298)

Freya (VLF299)

Meeko (VLM300)

Tahini (VLM301)

Baba Ghanoush (VLM302)

Pita (VLF303)

Muhammara ((VLF304)

Za’atar (VLF305)

Lazuli Foundation Groups

Several splinter mobs have been created by Lazuli members during the group's 20+ year existence.

Whiskers Mob was formed in 1998 by two Lazuli rovers, four Young Ones females and a wild meerkat who had been released from Van Zylsrus. The Whiskers are still alive today and are one of the oldest and most successful mobs in the KMP study area.

Tottenham Mob was formed in 2001 by two evicted Lazuli female and two rovers from the Elveera. The group survived a year before disease hit in early 2002, bringing an end to the Tottenham.

Moomins Mob was formed in 2001 by two Lazuli females and two roving males from the Drie Doring. The Moomins were lost in early 2010 but their bloodline still runs in several mobs today thanks to a very successful Lazuli dominant female who was sired by a Moomins rover.

PQ Mob was formed in 2006 by three Lazuli males, two evicted Young Ones females and one tag along pup. The group lost two members to disease and the last three males left to form the Starsky, while the last female then managed to join Balrog.

Starsky Mob was a short-lived group formed in 2006 by two Lazuli males, one Young Ones male and four evicted Whiskers females. The group's numbers began to dwindle due to TB and the Starsky was officially declared lost when its last remaining member was predated.

JaXX Mob was formed in May 2008 by two Lazuli females and a roving male from the Hoax. The group is still alive today.

Hoppla Mob was a short-lived group formed in August 2008 by five Lazuli males and five wild females. The group was declared Last Seen after signs of disease and poor habituation, but one of its members later reappeared in the Zulus.

Zulus Mob was formed in April 2010 by one Lazuli male and 18 wild meerkats. The group is still alive today.

Cave Men Mob was formed in late 2011 by three Lazuli males, three JaXX females and an escaped pet meerkat. The group was lost in early 2013 when the dominant female disappeared and the remaining males started to disperse.

Nematoads Mob was formed in January 2014 by three evicted Lazuli females, one Baobab male and one wild male. The group was lost in March 2017.

Hakuna Matata Mob was discovered in October 2016 when an evicted Lazuli female was seen with a male that had previously belonged to the Cave Men and four pups. The group is still alive today.

Namaqua Mob was formed in November 2018 by a Lazuli roving male, a Quintessentials female and a male and female from the Make-e-Plan. The group was sadly lost to TB in February 2023.

Rivals

Currently, the Lazuli mostly encounter the Baobab and JaXX. Their territory borders the Whiskers, Sequoia Mob, and Zulus. The Cave Men may be their new rivals. When the group first formed, the Lazuli's main rivals were the Young Ones and possibly the Drie Doring and Vivian. The Moomins, Elveera, and Hoax once were the Lazuli's closest rivals until all mobs moved away. In 2007, the Nutters and Aztecs formed near the Lazuli and became their new rivals, however, the Aztecs moved away and the Nutters were no longer observed. The Hoppla Mob formed on Lazuli land and the Toyota established their territory near the Lazuli, but the Toyota moved away and the Hoppla was lost. Towards the end of 2017, they began to encounter the Hakuna Matata and TB-or-not-TB.

Meerkat Manor

Lazuli was one of the two main group featured in the first season of the hit television series, Meerkat Manor. They were the first rivals featured of the Whiskers on the show, the other group was the Gattaca. The Lazuli were lead by Cazanna and Big Si(Basil) in the first season. At the start of the second season, we found out that Big Si had died and one of his sons, JD, had taken his place as the dominant male. In the third season, the Commandos(Vivian Mob) had kicked the Lazuli out of their territory, but in reality, the Whiskers had simply moved. The group made no appearance in the third season. But in the fourth and final season, the Lazuli appeared in a single episode as rivals to the new Aztecs mob. By that time Cazanna had died and Aretha was the new dominant female. The Lazuli haven't been mentioned again after that.