Meerkat pups leave Askham Bryan College for Flamingo Land (From York Press)

Meerkat pups leave Askham Bryan College for Flamingo Land

10:04am Friday 2nd September 2011 in News

THERE has been a round of departures and new arrivals at Askham Bryan College animal unit near York.

While meerkat Hattie’s latest litter of four pups is leaving the nest at the college to join their 11-strong family at Flamingo Land, four-month-old skunks Smokey and Bandit have recently arrived.

Cameron Parkes, a course manager at the college, said: “Smokey and Bandit are a welcome addition, they are very popular. They do smell so hopefully no-one will annoy them – if they get annoyed they will spray.

“Everyone loves the meerkats because you can handle them and pick them up.

“They can be vicious, but not if you go in there quietly – they are used to us.”

There is a wide variety of animals in the unit at Askham Bryan College, including racoons, snakes, rats, rabbits and scorpions, which are cared for by Animal Management students at the college.