Lemurs have chowed down on early Easter treats.
Camera IconLemurs have chowed down on early Easter treats. Credit: Supplied/AAP Image/Rebecca Le May

Easter treats for Perth Zoo’s cutest

AAPSouthern Gazette

RING-tailed lemurs and meerkats at Perth Zoo have chowed down on early Easter treats as part of the 121-year-old facility’s behavioural enrichment program.

The zoo’s meerkat mob feverishly tore into specially created paper mache eggs filled with meal worms on Thursday while the troop of lemurs delicately investigated their surprises stuffed full of fruit, vegetables and nuts.

“It encourages their natural instincts and foraging,” primates supervisor Holly Thompson told reporters.

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“Despite the novelty, they were specifically designed as a serious puzzle for our animals.”

Meerkats have chowed down on early Easter treats. AAP Image/Rebecca Le May
Camera IconMeerkats have chowed down on early Easter treats. AAP Image/Rebecca Le May Credit: Supplied/AAP Image/Rebecca Le May

The trio of bachelors in the lemur enclosure are Gimaro and his twin sons Vato and Akondro, while the six-member meekrat mob is led by Bamba, whose first baby Salama was stolen by a misguided 23-year-old man in September.

The one-month-old meerkitten was found two days later at a home in Beverley, about 140km southeast of Perth, to the great relief of zookeepers who feared he had been snatched by a predator bird.

There were then concerns he would be rejected by the group, which became very unsettled by his absence.

But he is back in the fold and has clearly fully recovered from his ordeal, given he’s adult sized even though he’s still a juvenile.

The thief, who thought Salama would make a “cool pet”, was later fined $4000 and wrote a letter of apology to the zoo.

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