Timon from The Lion King is a meerkat , which is a small mammal in the mongoose family native to southern Africa.

What kind of animal is Timon?

  • Timon is explicitly described as a meerkat in materials about The Lion King and related media.
  • Meerkats are small mongooses (species Suricata suricatta) that live in arid regions and savannas of southern Africa.

A bit about meerkats

  • Meerkats are social animals that live in cooperative groups often called mobs or clans, typically ranging from about 10 to 30 individuals.
  • They mainly eat insects, but will also take small vertebrates, spiders, and even scorpions, to whose venom they have a degree of immunity.

Timon vs real meerkats

  • Unlike real meerkats, which normally walk on all fours and only stand briefly on their hind legs, Timon is animated walking upright like a human for comedic effect.
  • The character keeps core meerkat traits such as bug-eating, living in the savanna, and quirky social behavior, but with exaggerated personality and speech.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.