Boonshoft Museum Of Discovery issued the following announcement on Sept. 23.
We are heartbroken to share that due to their failing health, our two most geriatric meerkats, Maggie and Marley, had to be humanely euthanized by the museum's veterinarians.
Meerkats in the wild can live 8-10 years; at 13 years old Maggie and Marley were two of the oldest meerkats in an AZA-accredited zoo. Both of them had lived at the museum since 2010, and were born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.
Marley's brother, Mick, is also 13 years old and is now living on his own in the meerkat habitat. Meerkats live in close-knit family groups, so the Live Animals department is working with the Meerkat Species Survival Plan (SSP) and will be closely monitoring Mick’s quality of life and welfare as he lives on his own.
If you have any questions, please call the museum's main phone number and ask to speak to a Live Animals department curator.
Pictured (front to back): Maggie, Marley, and Mick
(Photo courtesy of Lead Keeper Amanda)
Original source can be found here.
Source: Boonshoft Museum Of Discovery
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