Around eight months after the accidental death of four meerkats at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, four meerkats have moved into the revised facility. The female and the three male animals recently came from Zurich, the zoo announced on Monday. “We have spared no effort to create a beautiful facility with optimal conditions for our new meerkats,” says zoo director Rasem Baban.
A lot of work has been done in the meerkat facility in recent months. The outdoor area was completely excavated and provided with an even better protection against undermining. In addition, according to the information, the existing sand was replaced by a new substrate mixture. That should be more stable, because meerkats naturally create a widely branched, underground tunnel system.
The previous four animals died last September when they were buried under the ground in a self-dug cave, probably while they were sleeping. Meerkats live mainly in the African savannah.