Colchester Zoo welcomes baby Meerkats (From Gazette)

Colchester Zoo welcomes baby Meerkats

5:10pm Tuesday 24th November 2009

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COLCHESTER Zoo now has its very own ‘Meerkat Manor’ as they welcome two new arrivals.

Two baby South African meerkats, made famous by blockbuster movie, Madagascar, and popular BBC nature programme, Meerkat Manor, have been born at the Zoo.

Zoo keepers discovered the pups, born on October 22, during a daily routine cleaning of the “Suricata Sands” enclosure.

Laura Guerin, spokesperson for the zoo, said: “The pups have been growing well, and they can now often be seen venturing out of their den to explore their new enclosure in the Valley Zone closely followed by mum.”

The young Meerkats were born to mum, Pippa, who moved to the zoo in July from Banham Zoo, in Suffolk.

This brings the total number of meerkats at the Zoo to six.

Meerkats normally live in colonies averaging 24 members but sometimes reaching up to 30.

The slender-tailed meerkat weighs about 0.9kg when fully grown and can reach about 50cm long.

They are mainly a tan colour but do have broken dark brown bands across their back and sides also black eye rings and tips to their tails.

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