Friday July 3rd will mark the fourth annual World Meerkat Day!

This year the Meerkats at Taronga Western Plains Zoo have an extra reason to celebrate, with the opening of the Waterhole Precinct, which includes an exciting new Meerkat habitat.

A family of five now call the Waterhole home and are settling in well. They moved to their new home in May whilst the Zoo was closed due to Covid. This group had never been on public display before, having been born in a behind-the-scenes facility. The Zoo now has two Meerkat groups for visitors to enjoy.

The new Meerkat habitat has many exciting features, including a 4-metre high sentry post and world-class night facility. The vista from the Waterhole means that with the Meerkats excellent eyesight, that they can almost see the other side of town. Their night house is temperature controlled, as eventually they will be sharing it with four Leopard Tortoise who are set to move in later this year.

As the area is located on the edge of the new Waterhole Café and water play area the Meerkats seem to be enjoying the presence of people and the buzz of activity.

Keepers are training this new family for encounters and keeper presentations and if you visit the Zoo you might be lucky enough to catch one of the six feeds they receive each day.  

Join us on World Meerkat Day as we go live on Facebook from The Waterhole at 9:30am AEST!