Two young teenagers have spoken about their surprise at finding a meerkat living wild in Dundee.
Franek Czarnecki and his friend Amy Smith, 14, helped trap the stray animal with a piece of ham and a plastic box until an SSPCA specialist could come and rescue it.
Franek said he’d gone to the park near South Road with his friend on Friday when they discovered the animal.
Experts from the animal charity found another wild meerkat in the area the following day.
“We were sitting on the swings and then I look over and something ran past us. I thought it was a tiny cat,” Franek said.
“When I went over, it was standing up with its paws out and its head up. I thought: oh God it’s a meerkat.”
He said they phoned the SSPCA for help.
“The woman didn’t believe me at first,” he said.
“I sent her photos and emails and they asked me to keep the meerkat with us for as long as possible.”
‘I screamed Mum – I’ve found a meerkat’
He said his sister and her friend came and brought a plastic box and some ham.
“They couldn’t believe it. It was sitting just six feet in front of us”
He called home and said he screamed “we’ve found a meerkat” to his mum.
An SSPCA officer arrived and took the animal away.
Amy said: “It was surreal.
“We didn’t know how to react. I’m glad the meerkat is okay now.”
‘Possible’ meerkats were kept as pets
The SSPCA specialists retuned the next day and found a second animal living in the area.
It was initially thought the meerkats, a species of mongoose that originates from Southern Africa, had escaped from Camperdown Wild Life Centre.
However, all of the centre’s meerkats are accounted for leading to speculation the strays had been kept as pets and had later been released into the city.
Meerkats have become increasingly popular after featuring in nature documentaries and, in animated form, in TV adverts for price comparison site Compare the Market.
The meerkats have both been taken to Camperdown where they are said to be in good condition.
Senior animal rescue officer, Ben Soutar, received a bite to his protective glove when he collected the animals.
He said: “We can confirm that we were called to rescue two meerkats from South Road in Dundee.
“The first meerkat was found on March 12 and the second a day later in the same location.”
Not quite fully tame…
He added: “Both animals appeared quite tame, although they weren’t too happy about being picked up.
“Due to how comfortable they are around humans it’s possible they have been kept as pets at some point.
“As with all exotic wild animals, we wouldn’t recommend people keep animals like meerkats as pets as they have specialist needs that would be very hard for the average member of the public to replicate in a home environment.
“Both animals are now safe in the care of Camperdown Wildlife Park while we try to determine how they came to be in this situation.
“If anyone recognises these meerkats we’d ask that they call our animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”