Three meerkat babies were born in Fota wildlife park last month, the first of the species born in the Co Cork park in 10 years.
The wildlife park has launched a competition to name the three new arrivals, who were born on September 19th.
Teresa Power, a lead ranger at the park, said staff were “delighted to spot the babies out and about last month”.
Rangers do not know where the babies were male or female, as they had not been able to get a close look at them yet, she said.
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“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,” she said.
“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,” she said.
“They have become one of the highlights of our rangers’ day with their highly amusing antics as they try to copy the more grown-up meerkat activities, such as digging and alarm calling,” Ms Power said.
The new meerkats’ mother, Biggy, was introduced to Fota wildlife park this year, having previously been in a zoo in the Netherlands.
The father of the babies, a meerkat called Snaggle, had been moved to the Cork park from a small zoo in Ardmore, Co Waterford in 2021. The last time meerkats were born in the park was March 2013.
Fota is seeking suggestions from the public to name the three babies, at: www.fotawildlife.ie/news
