Young carers name four baby meerkats at the zoo

We were so happy to give four young Oxfordshire carers an incredible experience here at Crocodiles of the World where they got to meet and name our baby meerkats. We partnered with an amazing local charity called Be Free Young Carers, who ran this as a competition for their young carers and then the four lucky winners, Jayden Au,10, Freya Darvill-West, 9, Leo Bush, 10, Esther Peck, 15, all  got to spend the day at the zoo and helped to feed all the meerkats, including the babies who they named.

What names did they pick for the baby meerkats we hear you say? Well, they are now officially called:

Zooey, Margo, Gary and Buddy.

Our Zoo Director, Shaun Foggett said, “We were delighted to be able to support such a great charity and to give the young carers an unforgettable experience here at the zoo. It was brilliant to see how much they enjoyed meeting the meerkats who are always very inquisitive. It was a great day.”

Be Free Young Carers is the only specialist local charity in Oxfordshire that provides support to young carers who are caring for their loved ones. Whilst at the zoo the young carers and their loved ones also got to explore the zoo which is home to over 100 crocodiles as well as Giant Galapagos tortoises, Tamarins, a Fishing cat and Komodo dragon.

Sabiene North, CEO of Be Free Young Carers said: “We are so grateful to Crocodiles of the World for giving our young carers an experience of a lifetime. Being a young carer, they care selflessly for their loved ones, often missing out on chances to just be children and have fun. This collaboration is a great example of supporting children in our community, both raising awareness of worthy causes to improve the lives of children and their education.”

In recent weeks we have had three more baby meerkats be born at the zoo. Super cute. We hope you come and see them all soon.