Meerkats at Closed London Zoo Enjoy a Little Festive Cheer with Engaging Easter Egg Hunt

As New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently noted, the Easter Bunny is an essential worker, which means this holiday hero is still making stops to drop off eggs, candy, and other goodies.

While most won’t expect their Easter treats until Sunday, April 12, the meerkats at the ZSL London Zoo got an early visit from the big bunny.

With a little help from the zoo’s keepers, the Easter Bunny was able to drop brightly-painted eggs around the zoo’s meerkat enclosure. Meerkats Frank, Dracula, Archie, Penelope, Timon, Aurora, and Meko then got search for the tasty treats, digging through sand and searching all-around their exhibit to find the snacks.

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ZSL London Zoo

The early Easter egg hunt was a welcomed bit of engagement and distraction for the meerkats, who are going without human visitors, aside from their keepers, as the zoo is temporarily closed to guests in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Meerkats will sometimes come across eggs in the wild, which they see as a rare treat — with Easter approaching and the mob missing the extra attention they’d usually get this time of year from our visitors, the perfect time to put on an egg hunt for them to enjoy,” explained ZSL keeper Tom Lawrance in a statement.

“There was plenty to go round but that didn’t stop a few of our residents getting protective over their eggy hoard, hiding them from each other and burying them to save for later – something that may sound familiar to other households this weekend!” he added.

ZSL London Zoo

Fans of the meerkats and the ZSL London Zoo’s other animals are encouraged to visit the zoo’s website to learn more about how the zoo is handling the coronavirus pandemic and what the public can do to help.

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