Hellabrunn Zoo announces birth of Indian crested porcupine: First in 30 years!

Hooray, it's a boy! Hellabrunn Zoo welcomed the birth of its first Indian crested porcupine baby in more than 30 years. 

Born in July, the porcupette met the vet for its first health check this week. The baby boy is healthy, strong and remarkably prickly. The little porcupette passed his first health check with flying colours. The examination conducted by the veterinarian team at Hellabrunn, headed by Dr Christine Gohlund, with the assistance the keepers, revealed the following: The offspring is male, weighs 4.9 kg and, at four months old, has well-developed quills. Porcupines typically live as monogamous pairs in their natural habitat. Females give birth about 100 days after mating to a litter of one to four young. Porcupettes are nursed by their mother for the first 60 days before being gradually weaned around fourth months after birth.

Baby porcupines weigh only about 350 g at birth, but are born well developed with open eyes, developed teeth and short, albeit soft, quills. The mum and dad will accompany their young when foraging for food up until they are six months old. During such excursions, the parents will protect their little ones by simply have them walk between them. Juveniles become sexually mature when they are about one year old.

Curator, Carsten Zehrer, is very pleased with the results of the health check: "Baby porcupines are very sensitive on the stomach, which is why we waited a while before conducting the first health check. Everyone is delighted that the first porcupette born in more than 30 years is healthy and actively exploring the enclosure. The parents are doing a great job looking after their little one, accompanying him on his climbing adventures on the tree trunks and his first excursions to explore the food selection provided. On such occasions, the young male can often been seen proudly raising his quills. Our porcupine adults are of course more relaxed.”

The hair of the porcupine, modified into quills, is one of the most diverse in the animal kingdom. In addition to a coat of thick fur, it also has black and white banded quills that cover the back upper half of the body. Porcupines are equipped with different types of quills, which vary in length and functionality: the longest quills act as “guard hairs“, shorter rigid quills positioned on the back and rump are used to stab potential predators and hollow rattle quills on the end of the tail produce a warning sound when alarmed. They also have bristle-like hairs covering their feet.  

Zoo director, Rasem Baban, was present at the health check: "The first porcupette in about 30 years is something very special for us, so we were all the more curious to discover what the health check would reveal. In addition to the health of the baby, it is also important to us that our keepers do not encounter the spines of the parents, who have just been separated from their offspring for the first time. Indian crested porcupines are classified as Least Concern, but we would like to educate our visitors about what makes these animals so special and make them aware that their habitats need our protection, even if they are not endangered.”