The maze of small tunnels and chambers built into the wall near the rear of the Natural Encounters building has been home to two species, Damara and naked mole-rats. Lately these burrows have been empty, as the mole-rats tunnel behind the scenes while their exhibit is being renovated. If you’ve missed seeing them, you don’t have to wait until they’re back; they come out regularly for Meet the Keeper Talks. Check our Daily Schedule on the morning of your visit to see if they might be featured that day.

Kamryn Suttinger, the keeper who has worked with the mole-rats the longest, treated me with a few cool facts about them while she introduced me to them behind the scenes. Both Damara and naked mole-rats hail from the southern regions of Africa in the wild, though our colonies were born and raised in zoos. Mole-rats are rodents, and those two enormous front teeth grow constantly. Thus the need to constantly be chewing to wear the teeth down, a trait that’s most helpful in the wild. Here at the zoo keepers provide them with plenty of enrichment items to chew on, and sometimes block their tunnels with a sweet potato to give them a sweet reward for their digging efforts.

It is nearly impossible to tell male and female Damara mole-rats apart, says Suttinger, and not long ago we were met with a big surprise as a result. One of the “males” was quarreling with the queen of the colony, and to keep the peace keepers separated “him” out with a few other males into a bachelor colony. To their surprise this colony produced a litter of pups!

After renovations are complete, the naked mole-rats will have an exhibit area near the bat cave in Natural Encounters, and the Damara mole-rats will return to a new and improved exhibit in their current area. One problem with the old exhibit was that only the chambers were visible; the tunnels were behind the scenes where much of the great digging, tunneling and social interactions were happening. The new exhibits will have the tunnels and chambers visible to the public.

We will make an announcement when the renovations are complete and the mole-rats are back out on exhibit. Subscribe to our e-newsletter and get the news in your inbox!

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