ANIMAL Care students at Wiltshire College Lackham are hand rearing a "hobbit" as part of their studies.

This Hobbitis not an escapee from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings but a four-month-old meercat, which has very hairy feet like his Middle Earth namesakes, which earned him the name.

The meercat was born at the Lackham animal centre four months ago, but he was rejected by his mother and needed hand rearing.

Lackham's seven meercats have just settled into a new enclosure built for them by the students, and more baby meercats are expected soon.