Bishop Burton College’s youngest residents make their debut appearance

Posted by Bishop Burton College Press Office 21st May 2010

Now that spring is almost certainly in the air, thoughts turn to new life; frolicking lambs, fluffy chicks and fledgling birds.

However at Bishop Burton College new life has taken an altogether more exotic appearance with the arrival of a litter of baby meerkats.

The youngsters, which were born five weeks ago but have only just ventured outside, have been born to a family of meerkats that arrived at the College earlier in the year to populate its brand new Outdoor Animal Handling Centre.

So far the mob, as meerkat groups are known, consists of a breeding alpha pair, four juveniles and two pups.

The meerkats have been introduced to allow learners to study the dynamics of social mammals and this latest litter has delighted staff.

College principal Jeanette Dawson said: “Work on the outdoor handling centre has been going on since the end of 2009 and the meerkats were the first residents once the Centre was completed.

“Animal management staff worked hard to develop an enclosure that would closely mimic the meerkat’s natural habitat and allow learners to observe natural behaviour.

“A successful litter of pups clearly shows that the meerkats are settled and happy in their environment and that’s very pleasing.”

Meerkats originate from the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and parts of South Africa and primarily insectivores, but also eat lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, millipedes, centipedes and, more rarely, small birds.

The College’s enclosure has been constructed to allow the meerkats to practise their natural burrowing behaviour, and also contains upright logs and rocks for those animals taking sentry duty.