Metro Herald - 27/11/2009 digital edition

12 METRO Friday, November 27, 2009 D NOTHING can compare to a mothers love but this toy meerkat is doing a good job as a stand-in to five orphaned pups. Animal lover Steve Rowlands was con- cerned when they lost their mother, Anika, two days after being born so he decided to create a surrogate. Using a cuddly toy and a hot water bottle, the 28-year-old has successfully recreated a replacement parent. We put it in with them and they just snug- gled up to it like it was their mother, said Mr Rowlands who runs animal rescue cen- tre Tropical Inc in Oldbury, West Midlands, UK. They now assume that the toy is their mum and they act completely normally around it. We even feed them milk near the toy so they cant tell the difference between it and their mother its a really good result. The highly sociable creatures became an overnight hit when their antics in the deserts of Botswana and South Africa were aired in the BBCs Meerkat Manor in 2005. But the animals have found renewed fame recently thanks to a TV ad by insurance company ComparetheMarket.com By Miles erwin Picture: Caters Console the meerkats (.mom) Its not exactly ComparetheMeerkat.com, more... index.html 2.html 3.html 4.html 5.html 6.html 7.html 8.html 9.html 10.html 11.html 12.html 13.html 14.html 15.html 16.html 17.html 18.html 19.html 20.html 21.html 22.html 23.html 24.html 25.html 26.html 27.html 28.html 29.html 30.html 31.html 32.html 33.html 34.html 35.html