There are few animals on Earth who work as well together as meerkats. These squirrel-size members of the mongoose family live in groups of different sizes, from as little as three to as big as 50 members. everyone in the mob participates in gathering food, keeping a look out for predators and taking care of the babies.

Portraits in Nature is a hand-crafted collection of realistic plush animals. Artists working in a socially responsible and environmentally responsible studio create each Hansa animal from portraits of the creature in its natural habitat.

The Hansa Story
Artisan hand sew the animals "inside out", an old world tradition that results in the mininisation of seams, and their bodies are carefully "sculpted" to create "musculature" and "features" like movement in a walking or sitting position that are unique to each creature. On average, there are 42 separate pieces required to make each animal, that must be combined by a team of truly creative artists to create the distinctly realistic features that characterise HANSA animals. (Some animals have as many as 240 different parts!) Each animal is individually hand sewn, to give it a unique "personality", there are more than 860 different fabrics and man-made furs from which the "coat" and "hides" are made, along with over 6000 sets of different eyes, whiskers, claws, noses, and related accessories allocated for creating these wonderful plush animals. Stuffing emphasises careful attention to the placement of the highest quality man-made materials.

When you hold these wonderfully "life-like" animals, you will see and feel HANSA's emphasis on quality, which is a result of careful attention to design, custom fabric selection, cutting, sewing, stuffing, eye placement, feature creation, framing, air brushing and finishing. Since each animal is hand sewn, there will be slight variations in appearance.

Age Group: The Recommended age for Hansa animals is 3 and up to comply with ASTM93 safety standards.

• Item Width: 19cm
• Item Length: 15cm
• Item Height: 33cm