Animals Fall In ‘Love At First Sight’ And Welcome Zoo’s First Dwarf Mongoose Pup

Friday, 11 November 2022 06:00

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

Drusillas Zoo Park has announced the safe and healthy arrival of their first baby dwarf mongoose – proof that even animals can experience love at first sight!

Keepers at the Sussex based Zoo were thrilled to discover the tiny pup last month - the first born at the zoo, and whose arrival was a bit of a surprise as its parents had only just met.

The adorable baby was born on October 15 to a two-year-old female who arrived at Drusillas Park — based close to Alfriston — in July.

Keepers had high hopes the newly welcomed female would result in a successful pairing with resident male, Stasher, but had no idea quite how quickly the two would accept each other and start a little family.

Zookeeper Freya Grayson commented:

“It’s so exciting to finally have a dwarf mongoose pup at the zoo, but it happened so quickly we hadn’t even had a chance to give mum a name yet!

"She’s super gentle and sweet, and even though this is her first baby she’s clearly a natural and doing all the right things for her new pup.

"We usually ask the public to help us name our zoo-borns, but this time we need a name for mum as well.”

The (currently unnamed) female from Wild Discovery Zoo in Preston, came to Drusillas as an exchange for the parks' male dwarf mongoose, Houdini, in the hopes both zoos could have a successful breeding pair.

The dwarf mongoose is the smallest mongoose in the world, with adults measuring between 18-26 cm and even when fully grown only weighing between 200-300 grams.

They have an incredibly short gestation period of just 54 days so the romance at Drusillas must have begun almost instantly.

Help name the new pup and mum!

With this new arrival, Drusillas Park now has three dwarf mongoose located at the front of the Zoo, and they need your help to decide the name of the new pup and mum!

They haven’t confirmed the gender of baby just yet — so a gender neutral name would be fantastic. If you would like to help choose a name, head to Drusillas Park socials (@drusillaspark) to make a suggestion.