Zoo Miami is known as the oldest and largest zoo in Florida and also the fifth-largest in the United States.
It opened 72 years ago, but the meerkats were never born there until recently.
8-year-old meerkat Yam Yam has become a new mom. Yam Yam came to the zoo from Busch Gardens Tampa and gave birth to two beautiful babies on the 18th of January.
Yam Yam lives with three non-related males: Gizmo, Joe, and Diego. One of them is the father and only after a DNA test would be confirmed who’s the biological dad.
Squirrel-sized meerkats are mongooses and are known for their upright posture. They stand on their rear legs, scanning the areas over the southern African plains where they live. Mom meerkats can even nurse their babies while standing.
These cute little critters are good team players, and they get united to do everything. Some usually serve as lookouts, gazing at the sky for hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey that can snatch them from the ground.
Ron Magill, the zoo’s longtime communications director said: “Diego spends a lot of time with them,” Magill tells New Times. “Diego seems to thoroughly enjoy being with them, keeping them warm, keeping them protected.”
Photos of Diego and the babies show him looking like a proud parent.
“Anybody watching the mob for any period of time would think Diego is the mom.
The pups opened their eyes for the first time last week. Their mom breastfeeds them, but the babies are beginning to wean and chase crickets and mealworms given to them by zoo staff. The pups haven’t left their den much, but Magill says they’re becoming adventuresome.
They’ll poke their little heads out of the den and scurry back inside. Staffers watch them from behind the exhibit.” Says Magill.
According to National Geographic, meerkats live in groups that vary in size from three to 50 members. Every member helps to gather food, keep an eye out for predators, and take care of the young in their desert environments in southern Africa.
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