Our prickle of porcupines has grown

Cape porcupine Alika, one of the two girls that settled in at Auckland Zoo earlier this year, has caught the eye of newcomer Bruce, and as Carnivore Keeper Kristin says, “It was love at first sight”.

Other than their adorable faces, porcupine have one distinct feature – their quills. When they spike these up it can make them look double their size, and can help defend against predators.

When Kristin went to weigh the group this particular morning, the confident Kali was happy to get weighed for her tasty vegetable treats, but Alika and Bruce had dug themselves a hole overnight that they were quite comfortable in. Bruce wanted his treats, but Alika took a bit more coaxing

Weighing is a really important tool to make sure the group is healthy, that they are all getting their share of the food, and to see if there are any baby porcupine on the way. With only a three month gestation period, we hope it won’t be too long until we hear the pitter patter of baby porcupines – which are actually called porcupettes!