The real-life scrapes and adventures of these highly-watchable exotic animals will form the focal point of a major new development at the attraction.

Since their introduction to Tropical World ? years ago, the meerkats have delighted thousands of visitors and now council chiefs have decided to give them star billing.

As part of a development expected to prove a huge draw, the animals are being moved from their current home to a new meerkat enclosure being constructed in the middle of the tropical paradise.

Council officials say it will be like a real-life version of the popular TV programme Meerkat Manor, which followed the lives of a collection of the entertaining animals in their native Africa.

Tropical World will close for just under a fortnight- from March 10-19 while the work takes place.

A temporary café within the centre's education rooms - which opened a couple of months ago while work got underway to refurbish the Tropical World café - will remain open during the work.

Meanwhile, Roundhay Park's popular Lakeside Café is due to re-open in the summer as work to repair devastating fire damage from last year nears completion. Once construction work is complete late Spring it will be handed back to tenant David Rogers for a re-fit.

And efforts to find a new operator to run the café/bar/hire facilities at the park's Mansion are well under way, with strong interest from a number of companies in the field.

Councillor John Procter, executive member for Leisure, said: "We ask people to bear with us during this temporary closure as it will mean an exciting new attraction for Tropical World's many fans. The meerkats will be moving in in plenty of time for Easter, so it will be great entertainment for all the family during the holidays and beyond!"

Tropical World re-opens on Thursday March 20th at 10am.