Our Menagerie has a variety of animals for you to see: a family of meerkats, giant tortoise, pigs, marmosets, and more. We have a miniature pony and a selection of birds, along with the more traditional goats and rabbits.
Meerkats
Meerkats are small African herpselid species found in many ranges of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Their length is generally between 425mm- 600mm and they can weigh anything between 720g and 731g. The males are the larger of the sexes. The colour of their fur reflects their arid desert environment and is a sandy tan colour. Typical of all meerkats, the ones you will see at Castle Ashby have ears and tails with black tips.
At an impressive 25mm long, Meerkats’ claws are great for digging and self-defence. The skin on their chests is black to absorb the sun and has been likened to a solar panel. Once warmed up they are extremely active.
Our captive meerkats are happily kept in an enclosure, they are very social and are best in pairs or groups. Within every group, each meerkat has a job to do. The dominant females will be the matriarch of the family, while the males regularly take sentry duty on a tree stump: they will sit at the highest point and observe the surroundings. If a predator is spotted, such as a cat, dog, or even a plane, the male will let out an alarm call and all the meerkats will dash into the burrow for cover. The meerkats will let out different calls for different predators.
Marmosets
The marmosets we have in our menagerie are the best known and most frequently kept callthricid species. They can be identified by their long white or grey ear tufts, blackish crown with white blaze on the forehead, mottled grey-brown body, and the posterior part of their backs which are finely branded with grey or orange and black. Their tails are ringed and they have well developed epidermal scent glands and scent marking behaviours, suggesting chemical communication is of great importance in the social structure of this species.
Their body length ranges from 19-20cm, their tail measures 27-35cm, and each hind foot is approximately 52-68mm long. On average female marmosets weigh 260-350g and their male counterparts can weigh up to 450g.
Marmoset family groups are probably structured around one breeding pair which share the care of the young with sibling juveniles and related adults. After a pregnancy period of 141-145 days, the female gives birth to 1-4 babies, although it is usually twins. Typically, the neonates weigh 60-150g. Young marmosets become sexually mature at 18-24 months and their life expectancy whilst in human care is 8-12 years.
