Meet the new arrivals at Meerkat Manor

Small enough to fit on the palm of your hand, these tiny meerkats are the latest arrivals set to melt the hearts of visitors to West Midland Safari Park.

Published Oct 29, 2014

The three-week-old cuties are being cared for by Manula, their mother, and Michelle Howes, a keeper in the African Village section of the park.

They will go on show to the public next month when their antics are expected to prove a hit with families visiting the attraction.

Bob Lawrence, director of wildlife at the park, said: "It will be a couple of weeks before they go on show to the public and are still being suckled by their mother.

"We had another litter earlier in the year and they were a big hit with visitors.

"Obviously they prove that Meerkat Mayhem is a hit with the public and that it has put the meerkat family on the map."

Meerkat Mayhem is the special enclosure at the Safari Park and is proving a huge hit visitors.

The animals belong to the mongoose family and are found in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and in the Namib Desert and south western Angola and South Africa.

Groups are known as a 'mob, gang or clan'.

Clans can often number between 20 or 50 individuals and they can live for 12 to 14 years.

Another new arrival at the park who is already greeting visitors, is an Axis deer calf who was born on Sunday.