This gorgeous look behind the lens at wildlife photography offers a unique chance to enter the fascinating world of meerkats. In this companion title to A Leopard Diary, world-renowned wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas spends two weeks observing baby meerkats in Botswana's Kalahari Desert. In diary entry-style chapters, Eszterhas recounts how the creatures grow from tiny, wobbly meerkat pups to adolescents who hunt scorpions and have (almost) perfected the famous "tripod" meerkat stance. Along the way, the meerkat mob faces floods, hungry predators, and even a stampede of galloping zebras!

Eszterhas's narrative is accompanied by her stunningly intimate photographs of the meerkats at every stage of their lives. Throughout the book, she also incorporates facts about other animals that call the desert home and introduces readers to the local Ju/'hoansi people, who have lived in the desert for thousands of years. Her respect for the land and the people who care for it will encourage readers to approach wildlife with wonder and empathy.

A portion of the royalties from this book will go to the Wildlife Conservation Network, which works with local conservationist organizations to protect endangered wildlife in Africa and throughout the world.