This hilarious video shows how 'simples' it is to make a meerkat laugh - by tickling its tummy.

The meerkat - named Alexander after the popular Russian critter from the TV advert - was filmed laughing with pleasure at Whitehouse Farm Centre near Morpeth, Northumberland.

His keepers regularly stroke his and his fellow meerkats' stomachs - causing them to make a giggle-like sound.

Staff member Karen Lovatt said the ticklish creatures are spreading the laughter and sending visitors into stitches. She said: 'Meerkats are very vocal and they do tend to make noise.

'They all have their own character, but they all definitely like being tickled.'


Meerkats are squirrel-sized group animals, which are part of the mongoose family.

They are mostly indigenous to desert areas of Africa, and are famous for their upright posture, which they use to gaze of the plains where they live and stay alert for predators.

The tunnel-dwellers have a varied diet of lizards, birds, insects and fruit, and can be trained as rodent-catchers due to their skills at hunting.
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