Fort Wayne Children's Zoo's Banded Mongoose baby boom continues!  Five baby Banded Mongooses, born on August 2, made their exhibit debut this week.  Combined with seven babies born in November, six babies born in March, and our original seven adults, Fort Wayne now has twenty five Mongooses in the colony.

Photo Credits: Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

With five new babies to care for, their mongoose mom is pretty busy.  But luckily, she gets plenty of help form the other adults in the colony.  “All the adults will help carry the babies, groom them, and play with them,” reports African Journey zoo keeper Nancee Hutchinson.

The babies are easy to spot – they’re tiny compared to the adults, but that won’t last long.  “Mongooses grow very fast,” Hutchinson says.  “The babies born in March are almost as big as the adults now.”

In the wilds of Africa, banded mongooses munch on insects, spiders, fruits, and even bird eggs, which they hurl against rocks to crack open.