Last month, a porcupine gave birth in front of a thrilled audience at London Zoo.
ZSL London Zoo keepers have revealed photographs of a lovely baby porcupine, known as a porcupette, who was born in front of ecstatic Zoo visitors last month.
When the mother, Hettie, exited her cave to give birth to Hershey outdoors in front of an awestruck crowd, visitors were treated to an unexpected surprise.
“It was completely up to Hettie where she gave birth, and this time – her second kid in seven months – she opted to leave her snug indoor dens and share the joys of porcupine birthing with our thrilled visitors,” zookeeper Veronica Heldt said.
“We addressed a lot of not-so-subtle concerns regarding porcupine quills – they’re soft at birth before stiffening swiftly, so Hettie’s labor wasn’t as traumatic as some onlookers imagined!”
Hettie gave birth to her previous porcupette, Herbie, inside her den, according to Heldt, but she wanted to expose Hershey to the world sooner.
She also revealed that Hershey’s family names all begin with the letter ‘H,’ including mother Hettie, father Henning, and seven-month-old sister Herbie.
The entire family was adoring of the new birth, making it impossible for keepers to snap an image of the baby on its lonesome.
Porcupines may live in captivity for up to 20 years and establish lifelong monogamous partnerships that raise their young together.
Hershey is a cape porcupine, which are solitary or found in tiny family groups in central and southern Africa.
They feed mostly on fruits and roots.
They are the biggest porcupine species, measuring 15kg as an adult compared to a minuscule 350g at birth – around the weight of a can of soda.
Litters can range from one to four, with female porcupines capable of giving birth once or twice a year.
Hershey’s sex will be discovered during its first health check, when one of its quills is sent for DNA testing.