Belfast Zoo has welcomed the arrival of four new meerkats.
Visitors have this week been able to spot the animals after they were moved into a new habitat at the north Belfast visitor attraction on Monday.
It comes after the arrival of two meerkats to Belfast Zoo in January, who later surprised staff with the birth of two babies.
Zoo keeping staff said they are “thrilled” with the meerkats progress and “delighted to see the parents embracing their new parental roles”.
The Zoo said the babies are “healthy and strong and have been independently exploring their new home under the watchful eyes of their attentive parents”.
A burrowing member of the mongoose family that are recognisable for their upright posture, meerkats are incredibly social animals and can always be spotted with at least one of them standing guard and keeping a lookout for predators.
They live in cooperative packs, called a mob, of up to 50 individuals with one female alpha who will be the only female in the group that will mate.
Zoo manager Alyn Cairns said: “We are delighted that the meerkats have settled so comfortably into their new home at Belfast Zoo.
“The pair have already welcomed two new pups (infants) which is a true testament to how happy they are with the Belfast facilities.
“The zoo has been keeping and breeding meerkats for many years and we are especially looking forward to seeing the mob expand to numbers that would be similar to a wild setting.”
The new meerkats and their babies can be seen daily at their new habitat, which is designed to closely mimic their natural habitat.
