This is the first time that this species has been born at Terra Natura Benidorm.

The zoo keepers have been in charge of feeding and caring for the three little meerkats (Suricata suricatta) that have just been born after being rejected by their mother. This is the first time that this species has been born in this park.

Rayitas, Puntitos and Garfio, as the babies are called, are in perfect condition and are progressing in their growth thanks to the care provided by the team of experts of this park, dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity.  At birth the meerkats weighed around 25 grams and measured about eight centimetres.

Paqui, the mother, rejected them, probably because she is a first-time mother and has not yet developed her maternal instinct. The mother preened herself after the birth and shunned the babies when they came to suckle from her breast. When this behaviour was detected and the mother did not feed or clean them, a first action was taken to see if she would accept them. In this case, the babies were removed and brought back to her to see if, after grooming, she would accept them, but she continued to reject them.

As a result of this refusal, the babies have been removed for hand rearing by the handlers with a bottle. Now Rayitas, Puntitos and Garfio are kept quietly in an exclusive space they share with a stuffed animal that simulates the mother figure, since by instinct the babies tend to hide under their mother’s body. The babies will be bottle-fed by the zoo keepers until they are approximately one month old.

When they are able to feed themselves and are completely independent, they can be reintroduced into the meerkat group at Terra Natura Benidorm, which currently has three members in total. To begin the reintroduction process, visual and olfactory contact is established between the animals to check their behaviour.

Depending on the degree of cohabitation and acceptance, the visual bonding becomes longer and longer until the physical barriers between the adult group and the new babies are taken. Physical bonding is also achieved by lengthening contact periods, under close supervision of the zoo keepers to prevent any kind of aggression.

Roles in rearing

Meerkats are born with their eyes and ears closed and with a very thin coat of fur. Each member of the species plays crucial roles within the group. Thus, when the baby meerkats are still inside the den, some individuals stay with them, act as nannies and look after them while the rest of the group forages. When the young leave the den, at about three to four weeks, the non-breeding members of the group often cooperate in the care and feeding of the young, which increases the chances of survival.

Baby meerkats make two characteristic sounds, a constant food call and a special high-pitched sound when a nearby adult has caught prey. Females complete a gestation period of 2.5 months. When a litter is born, the rest of the members of the group help in the upbringing, which helps to establish intra-group social bonds. This species has powerful leg musculature with digging claws, which on the forelimbs reach up to 15 millimetres.

They are mainly insectivorous animals, although they also hunt small reptiles and birds. It is important to provide non-wild meerkats with a diet as similar as possible to what they would find in the wild, as providing them only with fodder can negatively affect their psychological well-being, as they spend most of their time foraging for food, so they are very demanding animals in terms of environmental enrichment.