But the landlord said it had not all been plain sailing.
One male meerkat had to be hand-reared in Collier’s home after being ostracised from the group, he said. Another meerkat died, while three females have been pregnant.
Collier admitted that the first few months were a “steep learning curve”.
“We hadn’t planned to breed the meerkats, but it happened and suddenly we had seven babies. We neutered the females so it wouldn’t happen again,” he added.
While the original meerkats were not tame, the “new babies” underwent a four-week handling programme and began interacting with customers, he said.
“We’ve since continued with the human interaction as the meerkats love the attention and it’s beneficial for them,” Collier added.
There are now two remaining adults and five babies.