Antwerp Zoo celebrates quadruple meerkats birth
Public can give names starting with "X"
Four little meerkats were recently born "unexpectedly" in the same nest in Antwerp Zoo. The quadruplets are now seven weeks old and can now also be seen outside on the perk to visitors, informs the zoo this Thursday 11 August.
According to the zoo, there was a suspicion that female Hoppy was pregnant, but no certainty.
"Until we suddenly saw four cute little ones rolling around, of course," says nurse Melanie to Belga News Agency. "They drink a lot from their mother and now and then taste the mealworms that we give them."
The number of meerkats in Antwerp Zoo has more than doubled since birth, from three to seven. The adults, one female and two males, arrived in Antwerp from other European zoos just a few months ago. They took up residence with the Greek and Moorish tortoises, in the enclosure between the Egyptian temple and the playground.
Names with an "X"
The caretakers are now looking for names for the four with the help of the public. Each of the names will start with an X, as with all animals that will be born in Antwerp Zoo this year. First, the gender must be determined.
Meerkats are small predators in the mongoose family. In the wild they are abundant in southern Africa, mainly in desert areas. The animals are very popular with the public because of the pleasant bustle that always prevails in the families and the fact that a few animals always stand rigidly upright at the burrow to look out (and warn) for enemies.
(VIV)
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© BELGA PHOTO (HANDOUT ZOO ANTWERPEN - JONAS VERHULST)