The Bedford Estates, LondonBack in February, Woburn Safari Park was delighted to announce that meerkat pair Pansy and Brendan had welcomed four lively meerkat pups!
While carrying out routine health checks and identification microchipping, vets were able to identify that the litter included two males and two females.
They also love playing with, and learning from their four older siblings, who were born in February and all share Harry Potter themed names - Albeforth, Albus, Ariana and Argus.
The pups also became an important source of support to their parents, as Pansy gave birth to a second litter back in May!
The group of older pups now play a key role in helping raise their younger siblings and the mob all live together in Desert Springs as one big family.
Both the older and younger pups are now fully weaned and enjoy a varied diet which includes locusts, crickets and meal worms! These are fed live, which means the older pups need to have good motor skills to be able to catch and eat their meals. To help them develop these skills keepers created a special enrichment activity feeder made from recycled bottles – which allows the pups to stand on their hind legs to reach up and shake out the bugs!
You can learn more about the four meerkat pups and the rest of the mob at the various Desert Springs keeper demonstrations and feedings held throughout the day in the Foot Safari. You can view the complete timetable here.