Four meerkat offspring made their first public outing on Thursday at Cologne Zoo, in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, following their birth on June 13.

Female meerkat chief Babette gave birth to the quadruplets in a self-dug burrow, the zoo said in an Instagram post, accompanying one of the first photographs of the pups.

The meerkats pups will join four female and four male adult meerkats at the zoo.

Meerkat treats such as spiders, insects as well as bird eggs, small mammals and fruit would be made available to the pups once they leave the birth cave, said the zoo on Instagram.

No cuddles allowed!

While the pictures of the baby meerkats might look cute, zoo spokesperson Christoph Schütt told German news agency dpa the reality was rather harsher.

A strict social hierarchy means that only the alpha female in meerkat packs is allowed to give birth, explained Schütt. If other females in the pack give birth, their offspring are usually bitten to death. In the wild, beta females are usually driven away from cliques by the alpha female when she is pregnant, especially if a beta female is also pregnant.

"These are predators," warned Schütt, "not animals that you can take to bed with you and cuddle."