On the 23rd July 2009 Arthur and Anne became the proud parents of their first litter of baby Meerkats. Boris, Bandit and Bart became instant Internet superstars as millions visited this website to chart their progress. Anne and Arthur are now the proud parents of seven youngsters all of whom can be seen at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
On the 23rd July 2009 Arthur and Anne became the proud parents of 3 baby Meerkats. This website has recorded the events of the last year. Boris, Bart and Bandit become instant internet sensations when this website was released in August 2009.
All three started in a special feature on the BBC Look North New programme during the summer. Click on "Gallery" to see pictures of the Meerkat Babies taken over the last 12 months.
If this is your first visit to the website click "Meerkat Blog" to look at the amazing progress all have made since July 2009
10th August 2010
Follow Aurthur on Facebook
Authur started Posting on his Fanpage for the first time this week.. You can follow him at www.FaceBook.com/ and then search for "aurthurthemeerkat"
6th August 2010
Follow Aurthur on twitter
Authur started tweating for the first time this morning.. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/aurthurmeerkat
2nd August 2010
Did you Know
Meerkat Mob
Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) have very tightly knit families. They watch out for each other all the time which is the only reason they survive in the harsh environment of the Kalahari Desert. The sentry stands on duty and uses a complex range of vocals to warn the band of approaching danger, with different alarm calls for eagles, jackals and snakes or other predators. Meerkats have seen a rapid rise in popularity with visitors since the TV programme Meerkat Manor and an advertisement for car insurance.
24th July 2010
Final Day of Term
The meerkats are taking a well earned rest today after completing their final school talk before the summer holidays. The meerkats have been welcoming children from all over the region
23rd July 2010
Happy Birthday!
We are One today.
21st July 2010
Almost One Year old
On the 23rd July, the Originals will celebrate their First Birthday
1st January 2010
Happy New Year!
25th December 2009
Merry Christmas
28th October 2009
Comparethemeerkatbabies.com again!
Anne and Arthur have produced two more baby meerkats their second litter within four months. The first three babies are still small and playful and became internet stars from birth on this their very own website. Meerkats live in large colonies in the wild and rely on each others teamwork for survival. One is always on duty. Meerkats have become extremely popular over the past year thanks to a national advertising campaign by an insurance company. Meerkat adoptions are available at the Park and in great demand at £25 for a years adoption and the Safari Store is fast selling out of Meerkat Soft toys. Animal Director John Minion has an idea why they are so popular, People love to see animals that they can relate to and the Meerkats have families just like us. They are active and sociable and our visitors spend ages watching them and taking photos.
23rd October 2009
3 Months Old Today
The Meerkats have celebrated their third month by playing in the enclosure.
21st October 2009
Firework Extravaganza
The Meerkats are looking forward to the YWP Firework and Bonfire Extravaganza which will take place at the YWP on the 31st October (far away from the animal enclosures). Please visit www.YorkshireWildlifePark.com and click on the link
17th October 2009
Busy Day Part 2
A very busy day for the pups today. They are becoming very inquisitive and are starting to become mischievous, digging very deep holes in their enclosure.
7th October 2009
A day in the Sun
The Meerkats pups have enjoyed an unexpected day in the sun. despite forecasts for rain, the weather has been excellent. The meerkats spent most of the day keeping watch on the rocks in the centre of their enclosure.
21st September 2009
No Visitors Today!
Unfortunately the Park had to be closed today to allow essential maintenance work to take place. The pups are looking forward to visitors tomorrow...
17th September 2009
Busy Day
13th September 2009
52 days old
The pups have been very active today. They now sit and wait for visitors to come over and take a look at them. Bandit loves climbing the rock pile.
11th September 2009
50 days old
We are delighted to report that the three pups, who are now 50 days old, are doing really well. The largest pup (now named Bandit) has made it to the top of the rock pile once, and continues to try and get up there more often. The two smaller pups have a long way to go before they can make it up there but they continue to eat really well and appear to be very healthy. All the pups play with each other more and more and this again is a great sign as shows they are gaining strength.
It is hard to believe that the smallest pup was hardly able to stand last week and now can sit right up like an adult meerkat, as well as bound around, climb rocks and chase his brother and sister! Mum and dad continue to do a great job with their little ones and all appear to have really enjoyed the last few sunny Yorkshire days.
9th September 2009
48 days old
48 days old today . Pups played and ate all day (you can see the littlest one is covered in egg!) They all have very different personalities and the largest pup, who now looks like a real meerkat has become very sweet and takes food nicely from the hand unlike his smaller brother and sister who snatch. ah, they are so lovely!!!
2nd September 2009
A Chilly Day
All three pups have eaten a nice breakfast of meal worms soaked in warm milk substitute, chopped chick and nectarine. As it is a very chilly day today, we hope the pups will spend most of their time inside.
29th August 2009
Sad News........
On Friday August 28th we unfortunately noticed that two of the meerkat pups did not seem their usual perky selves. They have continued to eat solid foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat, but appeared to be a little bit weak. We have since then realized that mum is no longer nursing the four pups. In the wild meerkats depend on subordinates to raise their pups. It is not just the mum that nurses the pups but also other female meerkats in the band. Unfortunately Anne does not have another meerkat female to assist with the nursing. Meerkat pups would normally continue to drink milk in addition to eating solid foods for up to 65 days, and as our pups are only 40 days old, it is quite early for them to go without milk. We have tried using a milk substitute but unfortunately, the little pups do not seem keen on this new milk.
Sadly, despite all of our efforts, the smallest pup died in the late afternoon on Monday 31st. We had made the decision to remove the pup from his litter that morning, offering it feedings every half hour and keeping it warm, tucked up in a tiny bed in our office, but it was just too weak. The largest pup continues to grow and appears very strong and healthy. The second largest pup has a good appetite and although she is much smaller than her big brother, she also continues to eat well. The third smallest pup has an ok appetite, but at this stage is quite weak.
Please note, this has been a very challenging time for all of us. Removing a pup from his litter is only something that we would do as a last resort. If we removed a pup and he/she survives she will have lost her family. There is a large chance that Ann and Arthur and the other pups would not accept her back into the band. Meerkat pups form very strong social bonds and this social connection is critical to their survival
27th August 2009
Keep up if you can.....
It's getting harder to take photos of the pups because they don't keep still! All pups continue to do well and guests continue to flock to YWP to see them.
The largest pup is almost twice as large as the other three and has made it 3/4 of the way up the largest rock pile. Dad Arthur continues to do a fantastic job chewing up larger pieces of food like locusts and ensuring that each pup has some food. Mum continues to focus on feeding herself!
25th August 2009
Come and See us Soon
With less than a week of the school holiday left please don't forget to come and see us at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Please visit www.YorkshireWildlifePark.com for more information.
23rd August 2009
It's a Hard Life
Being this small is a very tiring experience. This picture was taken by one of the park rangers this morning as one of our little pups (now 31 days old) did a bit of sun bathing.
22nd August 2009
Photo Shoot
Another busy day for our Meerkat pups as many photographers came along to take their photographs. Since appearing on the BBC News Website homepage the pups have attracted massive attention from local and National media, check out page 19 of today's times Newspaper
20th August 2009
Family Day Out
Another day in the Sun for our Meerkat pups. They spent the full day today entertaining the visitors to the Park
19th August 2009
We're on the BBC
We are all very proud of our Meerkat Pups who can now be found on the BBC News Homepage. Click on one of the images below...
18th August 2009
Conquering the Rocks
All the pups are running about, climbing on the smaller rocks, digging and GROWING. When we enter the enclosure they come bounding over to see what we've got for them.
It's hysterical to see the differences between the largest pup and the smallest. As you can see, the smallest pup has a bit of a funky hair do.
16th August 2009
A Big Day out
The pups have spent the entire day in the outside area today, and were so exhausted by end of day, guests kept coming to the staff and asking what was wrong with them. They would just fall over asleep as they were walking. In the end we picked them up and put them in pipe so that they could go indoors and get some proper sleep.
15th August 2009
Grown up food
The pups have started eating solid food today. We are all very excited. Make sure you come down and see them at feeding time - visit www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com for further details or call reception on 01302 535057
11th August 2009
"We're Out"
Visitors to the park today were amongst the first to see our 18 day old Meerkat pups venture outside into the enclosure.
10th August 2009
"17 Days Old Today"
The Meerkat pups are 17 days old today. Their eyes are now open and they are exploring the Meerkat House.
7th August 2009 07:32am
"Hallam FM"
The Meerkat pups will be able to listen to Hallam FM live today. The Sheffield based Radio Station will be broadcasting live from the park between 10am and 2pm. Even more reason to pop down and see our newest arrivals.
5th August 2009
"A hard day at the office"
The Meerkat pups have been very active today. Playing with one another. They have spent a lot of time with their mother Anne who is doing an absolutely fantastic job of looking after them..
4th August 2009
"Mum, Dad - I Can See"
Today was a very special day for one of our pups whose eyes have no started to open. We are hoping to have some video to show you tomorrow.
3rd August 2009
Ten days old today. The largest pup's eyes are very close to opening. One pup appeared to be grooming themselves today. Their Coats are getting longer. If you look close you can see how well developed the nails on front paws are. Mum and dad seem very comfortable with visitors. They both took a nap in the straw basket - lot's of grooming of each other, then mum went and curled up with pups.
The meerkat babies are getting more active by the day. Rangers are reporting that the babies are now talking to each other with lots of squeaks, so that sounds like their ears are now open and they are picking up sounds. Their eyes aren't open yet but should be any day now. Anne and Arthur leave the babies quite often now and go out into their enclosure to forage (or just to look at the visitors from their rock). Visitors get a great view of the babies through the window of the house - they are proving a big hit!
Born at the end of April and now fully out and about you can catch up with the latest generation of meerkat pups by visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Last year their siblings Boris, Bandit and Bart became famous ...worldwide as their progress was followed by millions on this website.
The four new babies are feisty and full of fun and set to captivate visitors both at the Park and on line. They dont yet have names. Their parents Anne and Arthur have now got a large family with 7 youngsters to keep in line.
