Bystanders Shocked As Meerkats Escape From Animal Center And Go On A Jog Along The Seafront

Jul 18, 2019 by apost team

Just call them the ‘Terrifying Ten.’ A group of meerkats wreaked havoc on a town in southeast England after breaking out of the Sea Life Adventure Center.

The group of meerkats wasn’t sure where to go at first, but they knew they only had a short amount of time to get there. Bystanders captured footage and photos of the meerkats as they ran down the Southend beachfront. The Independent reported that employees from the Centre and police tried to herd the meerkats to bring them safely back to their enclosure. However, not before the meerkats caught a round of miniature golf.

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There’s no doubt they wanted to spend a part of their day off perfecting their putting skills. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined the hunt and the search parties were able to round up all of the animals and take them back home safely. 

The Sealife Adventure Centre wrote on their Facebook page to explain how the meerkats were able to escape.

"An idiot decided to break into Sealife Adventure Wild, and proceeded to wreck the purpose-built meerkat enclosure, allowing the meerkats to escape onto the Seafront putting both our meerkats and the public at risk." The Centre added, "The act of a strange person damaging their home would have caused distress and fear – and encouraged the meerkats to leave a place where they have always been safe." 

A user commented on the center's post saying, "All they wanted to do is go to the movies. Simples." While another person said, "This would be the best day of my life," according to The Sun. 

Police have not confirmed that the person is a suspect.

An Essex Police spokesperson said to Independent, “We are investigating reports a meerkat enclosure was damaged at Sea Life Adventure in Eastern Esplanade, Southend, at about 7.45pm on Friday 12 July." Nevertheless, the center has posted a photo of the man who was caught on their security cameras breaking into the enclosure and damaging the meerkat's home while letting them escape. The center said, "there's £1000 reward as well as a chance to meet the meerkats for info leading to arrest & charge!" 

Check out the video of the meerkats’ adventure and tell us what you think. Doesn’t everyone deserve a day off?  Be sure to pass this story along to your friends as well.