Wednesday, September 5, 2007

[Photo] (Top) Monty grabs a warden’s camera to reel off a little photomontage. (Bottom) A photo of a relative taken by Monty

Press photography can get a little hairy... and here's the proof, courtesy of some curious meerkats.

They developed a taste for photography while left with a camera at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire.

Ian Turner, deputy head warden, was taking photos for a brochure when he went to get another camera. Not thinking that a Kalahari Desert-dwelling mammal could work an advanced piece of digital equipment, he left the first camera with the meerkats.

He returned to find a furry David Bailey merrily putting together a family album of three snaps of the eight-strong meerkat mob.

Monty, the alpha male who usually leads the family, is thought to have been the one pressing the shutter button.

Mr Turner said: 'To actually get up to the camera and take a family portrait is quite incredible.

'They are some of the more inquisitive creatures here and will generally get their nose and paws into most things. Maybe we have a film crew in the making.'

Source: Metro.co.uk