Meerkat at Drusilla's Park gives birth to three 'meerkittens'

Sophie Leadbitter, head keeper at Drusillas Park near Alfriston, said she found out about the new arrivals after spotting a “flurry of activity” near one of the zoo’s meerkat burrows.

She said: “When we stopped to have a look, we saw three tiny little heads bobbing up to get food from their mother.

“My heart skipped a beat. We are so excited to have more babies.”

The zoo said the triplets are in good health.

Sophie added: “We suspected that their mother might have been pregnant, but we weren’t one hundred per cent sure. When meerkats have babies, they stay hidden deep in their burrows so we can’t see what’s going on – and we definitely can’t disturb them.

“We couldn’t believe our luck that among all this doom and gloom at the moment there were three beautiful baby meerkats popping their fuzzy little heads up to say hello for the first time.

“We are over the moon to welcome the triplets.”

Meerkats are social animals. They live in complex underground burrows in highly organised groups. Only one pair will breed in a “mob”, the name given to a group of meerkats. They tend to give birth to between two and five young at a time. All the members of the group share responsibility for looking after the young.