The Bedford Estates, LondonSuper parents Pansy and Brendan have welcomed a new addition - Ernie the meerkat pup has joined the mob!
The six-week-old youngster spent their first month bonding quietly with Pansy inside a secluded area of the meerkat house, but the curious pup has now begun to venture outside under the careful watch of mum, dad and their older siblings!
Keepers have been unable to determine Ernie’s sex at this young age, but expect to be able to do so in a few weeks as the pup continues to grow.
At around nine weeks old Ernie will become fully weaned and start enjoying the usual meerkat diet which includes locusts, crickets and meal worms.
As they grow Ernie will learn important foraging skills from the adults. Keepers arranged a challenging enrichment activity to welcome the new arrival, and the curious pup could already be seen investigating the long cardboard box filled with insects, with holes small enough for the mob to reach into.
Enrichment activities like these provide Ernie and the rest of the meerkats with a vital opportunity to use their non-retractable claws and slender arms for foraging in tight spaces - as they would naturally do in the wild!
Pansy and Brendan have proven to be extremely capable parents – welcoming over four litters in the last two years. Keepers believe this to be the first time that we’ve ever seen this many litters from one breeding pair in this period of time!
Give Ernie a big hello!
You can spot Ernie and the rest of the meerkat mob in their Desert Springs enclosure. The sandy sanctuary mimics their natural desert habitat, allowing the mob to forage, burrow and stand on lookout on the artificial termite mounds!
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