What's New at Brooklands Zoo? Meerkats!

A slice of the Kalahari Desert has come to Brooklands Zoo with the arrival of five meerkats.

The three males and two females arrived from Wellington Zoo yesterday (Tuesday) and settled into their new enclosure overnight.

“They’re very social and active animals and they’re a fantastic addition to the zoo,” says Mayor Harry Duynhoven.

“I think they’re going to be very popular with the public – I can’t wait to see children’s reaction to them.”

The nine-year-old females are Fupi (which means ‘brief’) and Mtoto (‘youngster’), and the six-year-old males are Imani (‘belief’ or ‘faith’), Zuri (‘handsome’) and Zambesi (named after the Zambesi River). Neither of the females are able to breed, however the males could become available for breeding at a later date.

Significant changes have been made to the enclosure, which is next to the free-flight aviary.

“We’ve designed the enclosure to make it as natural for them as possible,” says Curator Pukekura Park Chris Connolly. “They love to dig and burrow so there’s a lot of sand for them to dig through, but we’ve also laid a mesh foundation so they can’t burrow out.

“A short glass wall has been installed to protect the public as meerkats have a nasty bite, and we’ve got heat lamps for them as meerkats hail from the Kalahari Desert so they need a bit more warmth than Taranaki naturally provides.”

The enclosure redesign was completed with the help of sponsor Mangorei Plus timber supplies.

Brooklands Zoo is open from 9am to 5pm seven days a week, except Christmas Day.

Meerkat facts
Meerkats are members of the mongoose family.
The dark markings around meerkats’ eyes act like built-in sunglasses.
Meerkats’ ears are closeable.
Called the ‘solar panel of the animal world’, meerkats use their dark-skinned, sparsely furred bellies to warm up.
Meerkats have various alarm calls to indicate different predators.