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Chlidonias

meerkats

photo from 1992, back when meerkats were new to the country!! They became popular through the Telecom adverts on tv, and so Auckland, Wellington and Orana immediately imported groups to attract the visitors.

meerkats
Chlidonias, 11 Aug 2012
    • Chlidonias
      photo from 1992, back when meerkats were new to the country!!

      They became popular through the Telecom adverts on tv, and so Auckland, Wellington and Orana immediately imported groups to attract the visitors.
    • Jabiru96
      Also possibly from The Lion King franchise?
    • Chlidonias
      The Lion King was released in 1994. The popularity of meerkats in NZ was solely due to Telecom (following on, I believe, from their popularity in the UK from their Telecom commercials).

      Although I suspect nobody here really associates them with Telecom any more because those ads haven't been on for a while, so for the kids then, yes, The Lion King is their connection.
    • Maguari
      Meerkats in the UK first became well-known by virtue of the documentary 'Meerkats United', which was made in the late 80s (?) then endlessly repeated and sequelled. This was followed by The Lion King, of course, and more recently the adverts for... well, if you really want to see I suggest you stick 'Compare the Meerkat' into Youtube - "Simples" (eugh!).
    • Chlidonias
      I always thought the NZ tv commercials were actually English commercials re-edited for NZ. I've heard about your more recent ones and hence I'm not inclined to search them out :D
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  • Category:
    Auckland Zoo
    Uploaded By:
    Chlidonias
    Date:
    11 Aug 2012
    View Count:
    2,264
    Comment Count:
    5

    EXIF Data

    File Size:
    255.7 KB
    Mime Type:
    image/jpeg
    Width:
    1600px
    Height:
    1043px
    Make:
    Canon
    Model:
    MP190 series
     

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