Meet the first meerkat babies born in Fota Wildlife Park in a decade — they need names
The public now has a chance to name the Meerkat babies.
Meer-vellous news out of Carrigtwohill, County Cork this morning with the announcement of three adorable merkittens to mother Biggy and dad Snaggle.
Mum Biggy, who was born on St. Patrick's Day in 2021, came to Fota Wildlife Park in May of this year from the Netherlands, while dad Snaggle came from Ardmore Open Farm to Fota Wildlife Park two years ago.
They all live together in a habitat that they share with the Colobus monkeys, located just inside the main entrance to the Park.
“We were delighted to spot the babies out and about last month,” explains Lead Ranger, Teresa Power.
“We don't know yet whether the babies are male or female, as they are being well guarded by the other members of the mob and will immediately run underground and hide in one of the many tunnels they call home if they feel at all unsure about anything.
However, they are being trained by our Rangers to come out for food when called and we plan to develop this further as they grow older, as part of Fota Wildlife Park’s training and enrichment programme. The babies also have access to an indoor heated house and can sometimes be seen through the viewing windows as they pop in and out of this area of their exhibit.
Teresa says they have become one of the highlights of the Rangers’ day “with their highly amusing antics as they try to copy the more grown-up Meerkat activities, such as digging and alarm calling. Already they have been observed eating meat and mealworms which are the main parts of their diet.”
Meerkats are smaller members of the Mongoose family. Measuring up to 35cm in length and weighing up to 730grams, they usually have four long, strong claws on each paw to aid with burrowing and likes to stand on hind legs from high vantage points when possible.
Gestation for female meerkats is ten weeks and young are called pups or kittens.
The meerkat is a social and curious animal that lives underground in groups called mobs, gangs, or clans. Much of its time is spent digging and foraging for food including insects, roots, eggs, small reptiles, and scorpions – the meerkat is immune to the latter’s poison unlike mankind.
When born, the babies are mostly hairless and cannot see or hear. They generally open their eyes after two weeks and start to eat food other than milk a week later.
In celebration, both of the park's 40th anniversary year, and the birth of the babies, Fota is inviting the public to name the three young meerkats.
See www.fotawildlife.ie for details.
