This meerkat may think that he's found true love at last. But his passion is likely to go unrequited - because he has fallen for a cuddly toy. The toy is one of many thrown into the meerkat enclosure at a theme park by excitable children who have bought them from the gift shop.
Spot the difference: The Chessington meerkats have had to become used to their cuddly-toy visitors
The humorous encounter was snapped at Chessington World of Adventures, the large zoo and theme park in Surrey. Zoo keepers say the toy meerkats end up accidentally dropped in the enclosure at least four times a week. Manager Marc Boardman said: 'We sell a number of cuddly toy animals at our gift shops, including meerkats. And it seems children are taking them straight back to the enclosure to show them to the real thing.
'Unfortunately, in their excitement, they sometimes accidentally drop them in. And our keepers are retrieving them at the rate of around one every 48 hours. Some of our resident meerkats are rather wary of the intruding impostors. However, others seem to be growing quite fond of their furry lookalike friends.' Keepers have even reported finding a toy meerkat in one of the burrows, after a real-life animal took a shine to it.
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