Vaporub solves meerkat gang-wars

Cory Doctorow 11:17 pm Fri Jul 27, 2007

Zookeepers at Paultons Park near Romsey, Hampshire, UK have solved their meerkat brawls with Vap-O-Rub. Meerkats attack newcomers unless they smell like family. The solution was to rub all the little critters with minty chest-sauce so that they all smelled alike.

Livestock manager Geoff Masson said: "It is normally extremely difficult to integrate new meerkats into an existing group – their usual instinct is to try to attack any newcomers.

"However, thanks to a suggestion from our vet, Kate Chitty, we were able to neutralise all odours by using a little of the VapoRub on the nose of each meerkat.

"The meerkats then all smelt the same to each other and gladly accepted the new arrivals."

Link

(Thanks, B. Fezzi!)

(Photo entitled Meerkat 2 ganked from Ltshears's Flickr stream)

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