Wanda was born in early 2006 at Adelaide Zoo in Australia. She made news headlines on the 10th of April 2006 when, at three months old, she was stolen from the Zoo during daylight hours. The thief had snatched the meerkat into their backpack and left unnoticed. It wasn't until the Zoo did a headcount that they realised the meerkat was missing. News quickly broke out about the stolen mammal through television, the internet and newspapers. The next day at 7:30pm, a man walking his dog in a suburbian park at Hackham West found Wanda alive in a cardboard box. He immediately reported his discovery to police whom collected the meerkat and returned her to her family at the Adelaide Zoo. She was later moved to a wildlife park, but suffered from various health issues, including an injured toe. She