A baby porcupine is fluffier than you’d imagine

16 2 minutes read

In the early hours of May 17, Fort Worth Zoo in Texas welcomed its first prehensile-tailed porcupine baby. The tiny, fluffy porcupette is an offspring of mom Piper and dad Quilliam.

“The porcupette weighed 404 grams at birth, approximately the size of a loaf of sandwich bread and, at 20 days old, has already doubled in size,” Fort Worth Zoo Animal Outreach Curator Kristen Garrett tells Popular Science in an email. “The gender of the baby is not yet known, though it will be determined in the coming weeks through a quill DNA test. Once the baby’s gender is determined, the little one will receive its name.

up close photo of porcupine's hair and quills — If you look closely, you’ll see quills starting to grow. *Image: Fort Worth Zoo*

Prehensile-tailed porcupines are nocturnal rodents native to South America. Their long, strong tails help them lead a tree-dwelling lifestyle. Adults weigh between 4 to 11 pounds and grow up to 24 inches long (not counting the tail), and munch on plant parts including roots, leaves, fruits, and flowers. Like all rodents, their two front teeth are always growing, Garrett explains, meaning they have to constantly gnaw on things to file them down.

“A porcupette is born with soft, reddish-orange hair and begins to grow its quills 24 hours after birth,” she adds. “As it grows, the quills harden and develop their distinctive black and white coloring. The porcupette will reach its full size by about one year of age.”

Though the zoo has hosted prehensile-tailed porcupines for over a quarter century, Piper and Quilliam are the institution’s first mated pair. Piper gave birth without veterinary assistance, though the animal staff kept a close eye on her both during and after the pregnancy, as well as throughout the birth itself. They even trained her to voluntarily participate in ultrasounds.

The porcupette is currently nursing and growing “behind the scenes.” The animal will stay at the zoo, where it will eventually become an “ambassador animal,” which interacts with guests through education and outreach programs.