Meerkat-watching at Bristol zoo

A new visitor attraction housing meerkats has opened at the Bristol Zoo Gardens.

The state-of-the-art Meerkat Lookout cost £100,000 to build and took all winter, but the gang of 13 are now thriving in 152 square metres.

The indoor enclosure is heated and includes warm rocks that they can snuggle up to.

It also has an outdoor area for the meerkats with a tunnel and two viewing domes for visitors to get close to the animals at eye-level.

The lookout has cameras hidden inside the meerkats’ nest boxes so they can be seen when sleeping.

The cameras will also allow visitors to watch when the meerkats have young.

Matthew Webb, overseer of mammals, said: “The enclosure was set up to give the animals lots of space, to be very big and warm for them.

“We’ve got loads of areas to dig and loads of areas to hide, with deep red sand, which is very natural for them.

“These guys naturally burrow in the wild, there are rocks with burrows inside them and nest cams, so you’ll be able to see them carrying out their natural behaviour.”

The exhibit was officially opened by Joe Romain, 11, from Brentry, Bristol. Joe won a competition to name the new enclosure and cut the red ribbon to open it. He also had the opportunity to go into the meerkats’ home while Mr Webb fed them.

Zoo director Bryan Carroll congratulated Joe on winning the competition.

“We chose it because it sums up what the enclosure is all about,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic exhibit where visitors can ‘look out’ at the meerkats from a number of vantage points – inside their new house, in their outdoor area, in the viewing tunnels, or via the television screens which show the meerkats in their nest boxes.

“It also describes how meerkats tend to take it in turns to perch on top of high points in their environment to act as a sentry, or ‘lookout’, for the whole group.”

Meerkats have come back into the public eye in Britain in recent years after being used in a TV advertising campaign, which featured the slogan “simples”, by consumer website http://comparethemarket.com .