Baby meerkat stolen from Perth Zoo returns home

The one-month old went missing on Wednesday, leaving zoo keepers fearing it had been eaten by a predator

A baby meerkat that was stolen from Perth Zoo has been found.

A spokeswoman for Perth Zoo confirmed that the one month old animal was back in expert care after being “illegally taken from its home”.

Western Australia Police said that officers had located the animal following a search warrant at a house in Beverly, two hours out of Perth, at approximately 6pm on Friday.

The baby meerkat was then returned to its nest at the zoo.

WA police said a man and woman are assisting police with inquiries and no charges have been made.

The one-month old animal went missing on Wednesday, leaving zoo keepers fearing it had either been stolen or taken by a predator.

Speaking on Wednesday, Perth Zoo curator of operations, John Lemon, said the staff were devastated by the loss as the zoo was due to hold a public event on Thursday to mark the meerkitten’s birth.

“We take utmost pride in looking after the welfare and husbandry of these animals so we do take it quite tough,” Mr Lemon told ABC Radio Perth.

On Instagram, Perth Zoo posted a note saying it will now try to reintroduce the meerkat back to its family.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The #Perth #Zoo family is elated to have our #Meerkitten back in our care following it being illegally taken from its home. Thank you to the Western Australia #Police Force @wa_police for their great work in the recovery and to all of you for your support, it’s been a hard few days for us all. The little one is currently being reintroduced to its family, so the #meerkat mob will not be on display for the next few days. #savingwildlifetogether

A post shared by Perth Zoo (@perthzoo) on Sep 21, 2018 at 7:38pm PDT

The meerkat, which was born on 20 August, is yet to be named as zoo staff are yet to determine the sex of the baby.