African Crested Porcupine

The African Crested Porcupine is the largest porcupine in the world.

Porcupines live in hilly, rocky habitats in Africa and Italy. When threatened, they raise their quills along their head and back into a crest so they appear larger. To ward off predators they also stomp their feet, click their teeth, and rattle their quills. If all else fails, they will ram the predator with their quills. These sturdy, sharp quills are about 14 inches long and marked with alternating light and dark bands and have been known to even injure lions and hyenas. Contrary to popular belief, porcupines can not shoot their quills!

They are nocturnal and forage alone at night, sometimes travelling long distances to look for food. They live in small family groups with an adult pair and their young in elaborate burrows. Porcupettes quills are born soft and begin to harden when they begin to venture out of the den at about a week old.

Females give birth to 1 to 4 babies called porcupettes.

They are considered rodents, this means that they need to continually wear down their teeth by chewing on hard objects. Porcupines are also considered good swimmers. Unfortunately, porcupines are considered to be pests in some parts of the world. They are also hunted for their meat and quills as well as killed and sold to be used in traditional ‘medicines’ or witchcraft.

The African Crested Porcupines of African Safari Wildlife Park

While our porcupines have plenty of space to roam, you may see them all huddled close together. This is the technique that they would use in the wild to protect themselves from predators. It can be hard to make out just one porcupine if the whole “prickle” of porcupines is gathered together.

Our porcupines are Tic-Tac (albino “dad” of the group), Bayonetta (“mom” of the group) and their offspring Pinecone, Texas Jack, Sprig, Poke and Buckeye.

You can interact with our prickle of Porcupines at 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM, 4:30 PM, and 5:30 PM every day as part of the Zoo-It-All Animal Encounters Pass!

Diet: African Crested Porcupines are herbivorous rodents that eat bark, roots, tubers, rhizomes, bulbs, fallen fruits, and cultivated crops.