African Crested Porcupine
Hystrix cristata

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CLASS

Mammalia

ORDER

Rodentia

FAMILY

Hystricidae

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Range

Italy, Sicily, and Northern Africa (as far south as Tanzania and northern Congo)

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Habitat

Forests, rocky areas, savannas, and deserts

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Diet

Bark, roots, tubers, nuts, fruits, insects, and small vertebrates

Facts

• The African crested porcupine is the world’s largest species of porcupine.
• They will dig their own burrows or take over abandoned aardvark burrows. A family group will develop an extensive inter-connected burrow system.
• These are nocturnal animals, so they mostly sleep inside their burrows during the day and forage for food at night.
• At birth, the baby porcupines, called porcupettes, are covered in soft, sensitive bristles rather than hard quills.
• When disturbed, they stamp their feet and charge the enemy, back end first, attempting to stab with the thicker, shorter quills. Such attacks have been known to kill lions, leopard, hyenas, and humans.

 

Conservation

They are not considered threatened as a species but are overhunted in some areas.