Today, we are back at Kirkleatham Owl Centre, giving you a behind the scenes tour. Read about the birds, watch their progress in training, and get up close and personal with other residents, including the meerkat and porcupine families. This week, we meet up with some of the biggest stars
By far some of our most popular residents of the owl centre are our family of meerkats and nothing is more popular than baby meerkats, and we currently have four, who have just made their debut.
Born five weeks ago to mother Angelica and father Bob, the super cute youngsters have just started to emerge from their burrow, much to the delight of our visitors.
Standing at only 30cm tall, meerkats, also known as suricats, depend on group cooperation to survive. In their natural habitat, they live in groups of 20 to 50 extended family members in large underground tunnels.
These family groups, called gangs or mobs, are led by an alpha pair, with the female being the most dominant. Most of the group members are either children or siblings of the alpha pair.
It had been a turbulent few months for our own meerkat family with the unexpected death of our dominant female, followed by tension, aggression and a power struggle.
Position in the group is everything to a meerkat, who ranks higher, who is lower and how you can get higher – and a group needs a strong leader for stability.
Angelica, the lowest ranking female, intelligent and popular, dramatically rose to the top of the pecking order, and she quickly became pregnant, and the birth of these babies has sealed her position as the group's leader.
So, all is peaceful now with the four tiny babies playing with the rest of the group and lounging in the sun (when we have some).
Such a cute picture of a baby meerkat next to one of the adults in the group
Looking like tiny toy meerkats, the babies are proving hugely popular with our visitors, and they couldn't have timed their arrival better, emerging just in time for the summer holidays.
Kirkleatham Owl Centre is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4.30pm, with flying displays at noon and 2.30pm. Booking is not required and Covid-19 guidelines can be found at www.kirkleathamowlcentre.co.uk
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