Meerkats love peanuts and mealworms.Even with strong winds whistling across their sandy exhibit, the little desert-dwellers, rushed out on Tuesday morning to find peanuts – two each – hidden throughout the exhibit.Today, brightly coloured balls filled with mealworms were being rolled about while the Meerkats, five males and four females, tried to pull the worms free for a morning snack. On Peanut Day, the keepers had hidden one nut in a crack in tree branch. It took a Meerkat several minutes to wriggle the nut free only for it to drop to the ground.The peanut hunter dashed down and quickly ripped open the shell to scoff the nuts inside.Others were busy digging in the sand for more hidden food.Sometimes the Meerkats took time off to bask in the weak winter sun or under the infra-red heat lamps where they just plopped down looking for all the world like they were sitting in an armchair.While the peanut hunting, ball rolling and basking was going on, one Meerkat was always on duty, standing on a high spot on tip-toes watching for threats.In the wild this’d be an eagle but at Taronga, the Meerkats are equally suspicious of passenger jets high in the sky.

By Zoo Communications.