These three cute baby meerkats have come above ground to enjoy the sun under the watchful eyes of their mothers after they were born in a Dutch safari park.
As the babies suckle, their mothers stand on their hind legs keeping a watchful eye out for danger at the Safaripark Beekse Bergen.
It is located in the Dutch municipality of Hilvarenbeek where a spokesman told Newsflash they “only appeared above ground for the first time in the last few days”.
They added: “Meerkats live in the arid regions of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. There they live in groups of about thirty meerkats. The alpha female is the first to mate. As soon as she has produced young, it is the turn of the other females.”
In the summer sun, the mother meerkats are standing upright as the babies feed, and other members of the meerkat family busy themselves around, including one that unhelpfully decides to shovel sand around the enclosure although the babies carry on feeding.
They are the latest new arrivals at the park which included a rare red panda (Ailurus fulgens) recently and a western lowland gorilla baby.
Beekse Bergen is the largest wildlife zoo in the Benelux region and provides a home to around 1,250 animals from over 150 species, varying from small mammals to large birds.
The young meerkats 
The young meerkats
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Story By: Delano Langras, Sub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Newsflash
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