Tucson's meerkat mob grows by 2

The Reid Park Zoo’s meerkat mob has grown bigger with the birth of two meerkat pups.

According to the zoo, meerkat pups are born with their eyes closed and very little hair. They also spend the first several weeks of their life sticking close to their mom and dad.

Now that the pups are several weeks old, the zoo said they are able to explore a little more on their own.

“The new parents and the pups are spending some of their time in the behind-the-scenes portion of their habitat while the pups are still in the earlier stages of their development,” said Sue Tygielski, director of zoo operations, in a news release. “The family is visible to guests periodically when the pups are exploring but often prefer to sleep behind the scenes still.”

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Earlier this week, the pups visited the outside portion of their habitat for the first time. The zoo said the two pups are a “cautious duo” and stayed primarily in the doorway of the habitat as their parents enjoyed the outdoors.

“The most exciting thing to watch is the meerkat pups begin to practice the skills of all adult meerkats, like digging,” Tygielski said. “The little pups have to balance while moving their front legs to dig and often the early attempts are less than perfect, resulting in toppling over. With time they get stronger and more coordinated.”