Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A trio of meerkats, a species of mongoose, has escaped from the garden of Jan Knoppert, a breeder of various tropical animals, such as penguins, alpacas and flamingos. After the breakout, NOS says, the meerkats first roamed the house for a while, but now they’ve extended their habitat to almost all of ‘s-Gravenzande, Westland, and are particularly difficult to catch.
Animal ambulance, dieren ambulance, police and animal-loving activists are looking everywhere for the three: ‘Every time we get to where the meerkats have been seen, they’ve already gone,’ an activist told Omroep West . They are lightning fast but not suited to living free in an environment like that of Westland.
Biologist Eva Schippers of the AAP Foundation tells NOS that : “In principle, these animals cannot survive in Dutch nature. Their original habitats are Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Africa”. This means that they can live outdoors for a while, but they can weaken quickly mainly due to lack of food.
But according to Knoppert, the farmer, his meerkats can go on for a while: People who have sighted them offer them scraps to eat.
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