Rostock Zoo shows off 4 new meerkats meant to multiply

A female meerkat from Leipzig Zoo and three brothers from Krefeld Zoo were welcomed to the northeastern German port city of Rostock on Tuesday. 

Antje Angeli, director of the Rostock Zoo, greeted the meerkats, all of which were born in 2021. The new arrivals won't be lonely for long, as the meerkat family is expected to expand soon. 

"Meerkats usually reproduce very quickly," said mammal curator Daniela Lahn. After around a 70-day gestation, female meerkats can give birth to two litters a year, each with three to seven babies.

Lahn expects the newcomers in Rostock Zoo to give birth to offspring as early as June this year.

Rostock Zoo is already a home for two older meerkat males, both aged 11. Lahn said that they had reached "retirement age" and the newcomers would not be joining them, as it is difficult to integrate new animals into an existing group.

Meet the meerkats!

Meerkats are mammals whose natural habitat is the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa.

Their populations are considered stable in the wild and conservation groups categorize them as in the least concern group at present. 

They move in groups led by a female meerkat called a "matriarch."

Meerkats are known for their upright stance, with females even able to feed their pups standing up.

Meerkat groups, or "mobs," work cooperatively — while one part of the group is busy searching for food, other "guard" meerkats will be on the lookout for danger.

The mammals are omnivores, eating mainly insentcts but also small rodents, fruit, birds, eggs, or sometimes even more dangerous desert prey like scorpions or snakes.

vh/msh (dpa)