Newborn meerkats are typically hidden from view, only emerging from their burrow when two to three weeks old. In a filmmaking first, a camera-wearing meerkat goes underground to reveal her colony’s newest pups.
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TRANSCRIPT
[Narrator] Newborn pups only emerge from the burrow when they're two to three weeks old.
Before that, they're hidden below ground, a stage of meerkat life that scientists are desperate to learn more about.
(calm music) Over the coming weeks, the research team continues to deploy our cameras.
Until finally... A meerkat has given birth.
(calm music) We're taken right into the birthing chamber.
(calm music) At the center are five new arrivals.
These pups are less than a day old.
(calm music) One pup still has its umbilical cord attached.
(chirping) (calm music) Instinctively, the infants search for their mother's milk.
Their eyes are still closed, but they're already communicating.
(chirping) In this maze of dark tunnels, their chirps help the adults find them.
(chirps) (calm music) And also help the family build a strong bond they'll need to survive above ground.