Apply for meerkat surveillance coverage
Use this service to apply for trained meerkat surveillance operatives to monitor your residential property.
The Meerkat Surveillance Programme (MSP) is a DEFRA initiative that deploys specially trained meerkats as residential surveillance operatives across England, Scotland, and Wales. The programme was established under the Wildlife Surveillance Act 2024 and is administered by the Meerkat Deployment Board, a body whose existence the Department has confirmed but whose meeting minutes remain classified.
If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from a meerkat.
Before you start
You will need:
- Your address
- Details of any existing surveillance arrangements at your property
- A recent utility bill
- A photograph of your garden fence
Eligibility
Most residential properties qualify for meerkat surveillance coverage. The following exceptions apply:
- Properties with existing owl coverage (the Department does not comment on inter-species intelligence-sharing protocols, but a 2023 incident in Bridgend involving a tawny owl and a meerkat designated MK-1147 resulted in a joint statement that answered no questions)
- Properties within 200 metres of a badger sett (badger-meerkat relations remain “diplomatically sensitive” following what the Board's annual report describes only as “the earthworks dispute”)
- Properties in areas designated as “unusually interesting” by the Meerkat Deployment Board (the criteria for this designation are not published, but the Board has confirmed that Kettering has been on the list since 2024 and that “removal is not currently being considered”)
What happens after you apply
- Your application is reviewed by a Meerkat Deployment Officer, who will assess your property's suitability for meerkat deployment
- A site assessment is carried out — a meerkat will visit your property to assess fence post suitability, sight lines, and what the Board terms “neighbourhood intrigue potential”
- Deployment — between 1 and 4 meerkats will be assigned depending on the assessed threat level of your property
- Ongoing monitoring — your assigned meerkat(s) will maintain surveillance and file regular reports through the Meerkat Intelligence Relay
Duration of coverage
Standard deployment is 6 months and is renewable. Extended surveillance is available for properties deemed “moderately suspicious.” The criteria for moderate suspicion are not published, but applicants from Kettering are automatically placed in this category.
The Department wishes to emphasise that “moderately suspicious” is an administrative classification and does not reflect on you personally. Previous recipients of extended coverage have included a retired headteacher from Nuneaton and, for reasons the Board has declined to explain, a post office in Rotherham.
Apply now
This service takes around 10 minutes.
If you have already started an application, your data has been saved. You may return at any time, although the meerkat assigned to monitor your incomplete application may have formed opinions.