Baby meerkat magic at Telford Exotic Zoo
Staff at Telford's Exotic Zoo are keeping extra busy with the arrival of these adorable newborn meerkats.
The pair have not been named as yet and were born two weeks ago at the attraction at Lakeside Plant Centre, in Priorslee, to mother Keisha, as temperatures plummeted to below freezing across the region.
Scott Adams, of the zoo, says: "They were born about 13 days ago and have just only just opened their eyes.
"Obviously they arrived while we were having that really cold snap which isn't the best condition for meerkats which are animals from the tropics and they prefer heat.
"We haven't had many meerkat babies because of the complex nature of the meerkat groups. We knew that the mother was pregnant, but we didn't want to get too excited about it until the newborns arrived safe and well.
"So it was a nice surprise for us in the end. We were quite excited when we opened up one morning and we heard the squeaks. That was amazing. They have attentive parents and its really good to see them looking after their babies.
Scott added: "The last time we had baby meerkats the local schools picked the names, so we may doing something similar this time round as it's a good way to engage the community.
"Easter is at the end of this month and we can't wait to see the other spring arrivals.
"All the animals will be coming out of their nesting boxes for our visitors to see them. People will be able feed the lambs and the chickens and get some cute meerkat photos."
The exotic zoo off Salisbury Avenue is open daily from 11am to 4pm.
