African Pygmy Hedgehog

African Pygmy Hedgehog

Atelerix albiventris

CLASS Mammalia | ORDER Eulipotyphla | FAMILY Erinaceidae

RANGE Senegal in western Africa to southern Somalia and Tanzania on the continent’s eastern edge.

HABITAT Semiarid areas and dry savannahs

DIET Insects, eggs, frogs, fruit, fungi, lizards, mice, and snakes

Weight
8 – 24 oz

Length
6.5 – 9 inch, with 0.5 inch tail

Gestation
35 to 58 days

Young
Avg. 3 - 5

IUCN Status
Least Concern
African hedgehog

African pygmy hedgehogs are also called four-toed hedgehogs. Hedgehogs are related to gymnures and shrews. Hedgehogs may have 5,000 to 6,500 quills.

They are solitary and territorial. These small mammals find shelter in and under logs, rocks, roots of trees and brush piles, in termite mounds, and in burrows.

They depend on their excellent hearing and sense of smell that can detect prey two inches or more below ground.

African hedgehog

Newborns are blind and weigh about 0.35 ounces. Their eyes open in 8 – 18 days. Young are born with soft, short spines that lengthen and harden soon after birth.

There are currently no major threats to this species as a whole.