Transcript from September 28's Live Chat with Mick Kaczorowski

Animal Planet: Welcome to Animal Planet's live Meerkat Manor chat with Mick Kaczorowski, senior executive producer of the series. Mick will answer all your questions about Flower, Mitch, Mozart, Zaphod and the rest of the gang between 9-10 PM ET/PT. So, ask away!

Mick Kaczorowski: I'd like to thank all the devoted fans for joining us tonight on this webcast. And I look forward to answering as many questions as possible.

digil: How is Animal Planet commemorating Flower's life?
Mick Kaczorowski: As you can see in this episode we had a minor sort of small tribute, but we're looking forward to the audience and friends and fans of Meerkat Manor to send their thoughts, tributes and anything else that they feel is appropriate to share with the Animal Planet family. (Post your thoughts in the "Flower Memorial" discussion forum.)

Figaro: Is Flower's DF collar going to be retired (not reused)?
Mick Kaczorowski: I don't really know. Probably. The collars, as you can see, evolve. It had been on Flower so long, technically they're upgrading the system so new collars are being placed on meerkats. So, most likely it was retired, but I don't know.

MozartPal: What's your relationship with Flower and the rest of the Whiskers?
Mick Kaczorowski: My relationship is not as close as the researchers, not as close as the camera people. I've actually been to the Kalahari, in March this year and April, watching the production. I'm an observer, more or less like the audience, because I don't actually work with the meerkats and I don't spend long periods of time with them. And I just get weekly updates of what's going on in the Kalahari while we're in production. So, I took to people who are in the field during production and who are producing the movie for us.

amanda: How big a shock was it to the film crew when Flower passed away?
Mick Kaczorowski: It was a big shock, and everyone was moved. Flower had been, so far, one of the most successful dominant females in the Manor. She was about 6 years old, which is a remarkable age for meerkats, and everybody knew her. I don't want to say it's like having a pet, but obviously people were close to Flower in a unique way because of spending so much time studying and filming her. So, everybody was really moved.

bencollinz: Wasn't there any way to give Flower anti-venom?
Mick Kaczorowski: Unfortunately not. The bite happened underground. It wasn't until Flower emerged that everyone actually saw the swelling. At that point, you have to let nature take its course. There was no way we could intercede or change the effects of the poison.

Vala: What's going to happen to the Whiskers after Flower's death?
Mick Kaczorowski: Well, like all meerkat families, there will be an internal struggle for who the next dominant female will be. And that struggle has already taken place, and you will see that happening in the upcoming episodes.

RCanal: What made Animal Planet choose to base a documentary series on meerkats?
Mick Kaczorowski: It was really a combination of Animal Planet UK and Oxford Scientific Films looking for something new and different in telling an animal documentary story. And no one had ever done a documentary soap opera on animals before. So it was just taking a chance that the unique thing about meerkats is the way they live in a family structure. And because they all go to the same burrow to sleep, it's a much easier animal to film on a daily basis because the crew can follow the activities of the meerkats relatively easily. Except of course for the heat of the Kalahari.