Once again our breeding meerkat pair Pippa and Robbie have welcomed another litter! On the 2^nd August 4 tiny pups were born into our ever growing group and so far they are doing extremely well!

Here you can see them at just a few days old when their eyes still hadn’t opened and they were relying on the group to take care of them. Now at just over a month old the pups are growing strong with all of them feeding well and with help from mum, dad and the rest of this large group of baby sitters, the little ones have been busy exploring every inch of their new home!

Our meerkats are fed a mixed diet of chicks, fish, fruit, vegetables and meal worms which are usually scattered around the enclosure and hidden in logs and burrows so the group has to search for them, this encourages natural foraging behaviour.

You can see our newest arrivals at ‘Suricata Sands’ as they continue to grow and mix with the group.

Meerkats are listed as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red list and are relatively widespread within southern Africa. The continued breeding success at Colchester Zoo is also a great sign that the survival of this species is secure.

Find out how you could meet our meerkats here.