Sydney's Taronga Zoo Welcomes Adorable Baby Meerkats

For the first time in seven years, the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia has welcomed a pair of newborn meerkat pups.

The yet-to-be named siblings—firstborns of parents Nairobi and Maputo—greeted the world on January 7 and have only just started venturing out of their nest box. While the sex of each animal is still unknown, zookeepers believe they’re a boy and a girl. Veterinary examinations will make a more accurate assessment later this month.

Meerkats are small animals even when full-grown, so these newborns are downright tiny—currently weighing in at about 120 grams (or just over 4 ounces). They’ve been chowing down on fly pupae and mealworms, and making attempts to stand on their hind legs.

“They may be young, but they’re already showing signs of their own little personalities," keeper Courtney Mahony said in a press release. "Our male is the bigger of the two and he’s more adventurous and inquisitive, while the female is quieter and prefers to stay close to mum.”

As the pups make their way out of the nest box for brief periods of time, they’ll be under careful supervision from parents and the zoo's keepers, and viewable by zoo visitors who are lucky enough to catch a glimpse.

These little faces belong to the first Meerkat pups born at Taronga in nearly seven years! The two pups are starting to... Posted by Taronga Zoo on Wednesday, February 3, 2016