![Quite a handful: Taronga Zoo is six meerkats better off after the litter was born. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo Quite a handful: Taronga Zoo is six meerkats better off after the litter was born. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/f140a8a3-ad7c-40af-b990-505a36f69a4a.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Taronga Zoo has welcomed its largest litter of meerkats ever, with keepers monitoring the progress of six playful pups. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo has welcomed its largest litter of meerkats ever, with keepers monitoring the progress of six playful pups. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/4a8faf6b-bfc1-4357-9fa3-a6276a9684e3.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Meerkat litters usually number only three or four. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo Meerkat litters usually number only three or four. Photo: Paul Fahy/Taronga Zoo](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/03beefc5-4e4e-4a4d-893f-4a3a7346ca31.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A litter of six meerkats has been born at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, the largest in the zoo's history.
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Meerkat litters ordinarily number only three or four, so six new residents were a welcome surprise to their keepers.
"We definitely weren't expecting six pups ... so mum certainly has her paws full this time," keeper Courtney Mahony said.
Now a week old, the meerkats have begun to venture outside their nest box and into the Taronga exhibit they call home.
This is the third litter for parents Nairobi and Maputo.
Lwazi, a male, and Serati, a female, were born in January and females Ntombi and Xolani in August.
"We knew that Nairobi was bigger than she was during her previous pregnancies, but we definitely weren't expecting six pups," Ms Mahony said.
"She's an incredible mother and seems to be taking it all in her stride," Ms Mahony said.
She's so attentive to the pups and she's getting lots of babysitting help from dad and her eldest daughter, Serati."
With Steve Jacobs