Surprise Baby Meerkats Born at Drusillas Park!

Just three months ago Drusillas Park in East Sussex excitedly reported the birth of their first baby meerkats in years. Earlier today, Zookeepers were taken by surprise once more as three brand new baby meerkats popped their tiny heads of out their den for the first time.

The friendly little meerkats have always been a popular attraction at the zoo but Drusillas haven’t had a breeding group in several years. However, earlier this year new males and females were introduced to the zoo and the matchmaking has clearly been a huge success... Tiny baby meerkats are popping up all over the place!

Head Keeper, Sophie Leadbitter, said: “We were walking past the enclosure when we saw a flurry of activity around one of the burrows. When we stopped to have a look, we saw three tiny little heads bobbing up to get food from mum. My heart skipped a beat, we are so excited to have more babies!”

“We suspected that mum might be pregnant, but we weren’t one hundred percent and of course when meerkats have babies, they stay hidden deep in their burrows so we can’t see what’s going on and we definitely can’t disturb them.”

“We couldn’t believe our luck that on this horrible rainy day, there were three beautiful baby meerkats popping their fuzzy little heads up to say hello for the first time. We are over the moon to welcome our second set of triplets in three months!”

Zookeepers have been keeping a close eye on the babies but new parents, Tamu and Tyson, appear to be doing a sterling job.

Head Keeper, Sophie Leadbitter, continued: “The babies look very healthy and well and mum and dad seem to be on the ball with looking after their new family. We are keeping a very watchful eye, but it’s important we don’t get too close or involved.”

“It’s a very exciting day for Drusillas and we can’t wait for the little trio to start properly venturing out of their burrow.”

Meerkats are very social creatures, living in complex underground burrows in highly organised groups. Only one pair of meerkats will breed within a mob, giving birth to two to five young at a time. However, all the members of the group will help to look after the youngsters and share the responsibility of raising the pups.

In the wild, meerkats are native to south-west Africa and are members of the mongoose family. They have long been a favourite at Drusillas so the news of the triplets birth is really very special indeed.