Euros England v Ukraine: meerkats predict victory for the three Lions Brighton News

The zookeepers were so excited about their apparent ability to accurately predict the outcome of football matches, that they named the two new park meerkat puppies Sterling and Kane after the England goal scorers.

Meerkat Kane puppy – named Harry Kane – on the ball

And newcomers didn’t have to wait long to be put to the test.

The meerkats were given two buckets of food – one draped in an English flag and the other dressed in a Ukrainian flag – and were tasked with choosing which to eat.

It started to look like Ukraine might be their choice for the game when meerkats Chandler and Monica went straight to that bucket, but Phoebe, Ross, Rachel, Tyson, Tamu, and babies Kane and Sterling had none of it. and rushed towards forcing a clean win for the Three Lions.

Newly named meerkat puppies Kane and Sterling with the group

While this may seem like an unusual activity for the animals, the whole process is part of the zoo’s enrichment program, which ensures that a diverse diet is enjoyed in imaginative and unusual ways.

Enrichment is done in all enclosures each day to encourage the animals to work a little harder for their food as they would in the wild, as well as to provide mental stimulation.

Mark Kenward, Zoo Animal Manager, said: “There is a real buzz around the mystical meerkats as they predicted England would win against Germany and did it right.

“They are enjoying their five minutes of glory and the Guardians are happy to have supported England again.

“We all hope they advance to the semi-finals, but we’ll have to wait and see! Of course we wish everyone good luck but it would be great to see him come home.

“All of the animals we have at Drusillas Park are very intelligent and require physical and mental stimulation and that’s perfect for them.

“They all enjoyed their favorite mealworm treat while enjoying a football-themed spillover.”