In these last weeks of winter, I can certainly recommend the zookeeper’s tried and tested method for keeping warm: getting stuck in to lots of building work (drawing a veil over my aches, blisters and bruises).

As we reach the sixth week of the nation’s third lockdown, the staff here at the zoo are waiting in desperation to re-open the zoo’s doors to visitors. But while we wait, for confirmation of when we can responsibly open, everything is focused on maintaining the welfare of the animals and improving facilities for them and visitors alike.

Combining both of these goals, the hard work of the fantastic keeper lockdown team means we can kick off a new year with a brand new meerkat enclosure – lovingly known as Meerkat Manor!

This last year has underlined how getting out and close to nature benefits our physical, social and mental health, so we wanted to make some of our most friendly and inquisitive inhabitants completely accessible to everyone. The double-size, full height glass-walled meerkat palace, means everyone can will be able to get up close and personal, while, back by popular demand, our trademark tunnel gives access for adventurous explorers right into the middle!

We really wanted to make it an interactive ‘pause and play’ stop on the zoo journey, so there’s picnic tables where parents can keep an eye on kids unleashing their ‘inner meerkat’ in the play area and sandpit.

Our 10-strong meerkat mob will enjoy double the space, with hi-tech heat and full spectrum lighting replicating UV and temperature levels they'd experience in the wild.

Setting our meerkats in context, the exhibit will also include African pygmy mice (one of the world's smallest mammals), and a large mixed species exhibit for terrestrial invertebrates, including millipedes, fruit beetles, mantis and stick insects.

As well as hard labour, the whole project has meant considerable investment for the zoo, including vital if less obvious elements, like the raised 80-tonne floor to guard against flooding. So it’s cheers to Meerkat Moving-in Day, and I’ll be cheering the loudest when visitors can return to reconnect with life on the wild side, posh new pads and all.