Somewhere along the line, managing editor Kristen Russell Dobson began referring to the crack ParentMap e-news team (full disclosure: I am a member) as "trained lemurs," and somewhere along the line, the joke evolved -- or devolved -- into email exchanges of lemur pictures, YouTubes of slow lorises, and speculation about whose personality best fit which critter. Yep, we're wacky.
So the announcement that Woodland Park Zoo is opening an exhibit of another small animal that possesses a surfeit of cute was met with certain amount of...excitement around here. After a 10-year absence, the zoo is putting meerkats on display again. Meerkats are an extremely social species of mongoose who live in family groups called "mobs" and stand at attention to look for predators and star in their own TV shows.
Check 'em out on Saturday, May 1, when the exhibit opens to the public. To celebrate, the zoo is planning giveaways, a meerkat mask craft, costumed meerkat meet-and-greet, live music and keeper talks. Look for a new play area near the Adaptations Building, where kids can play meerkat by squirming into burrows and standing at attention to look for predatory hawks (or curious seagulls).
