It’s a new year and a new and improved home for meerkats at Werribee Open Range Zoo.
A refurbished and specially-designed habitat is providing the zoo’s meerkat population with even more room to explore, chase, dig, and develop social bonds.
African River Trail keeper Kieralie Braasch said the upgraded meerkat habitat is now equipped with a dedicated training space, larger areas to bask in the sunshine and new substrates to burrow into and investigate.
“The habitat has lots of new substrates that encourage natural behaviours. Mulch provides opportunities for the meerkats to burrow through to find some tasty bugs and grubs, while refreshed sand encourages them to dig and build tunnels,” Ms Braasch said.
“The healthcare training area we have created is equipped with five wooden stumps that are put in place for each individual meerkat to station on. There are also some flat sandy areas that allow keepers to introduce different tools such as voluntary hand injection chutes for routine blood draws and immunisations. Once the meerkats have spent up all their energy, they can retreat to expanded open areas that encourage them to sunbathe together.”
Ms Braasch said the meerkats’ new home is providing some wonderful opportunities for the social species.
“We’ve seen that this enhanced space is creating additional opportunities for bonding and sharing. Overall, they are becoming a more cohesive group.”
Meerkats are small mammals that are native to the arid regions of southern Africa including Botswana, Namibia, Angola and South Africa.
They are identified by their slender bodies and tails, dark patches around their eyes that act as natural sunglasses, and a distinctive striped pattern along their backs.
Visitors can take a look at the meerkats exploring their refurbished habitat through the viewing area at the Zoo’s Meerkat Bistro.
