African Cape porcupine

Hystrix africaeaustralis

Status

Least Concern

Activity Period

Nocturnal

Classification

Mammal

One of the largest rodents on the planet

A porcupine’s impressive striped quills are modified hardened hairs that grow up to a foot long. They use them for defense: raising and spreading the quills while vibrating rattling tail quills to seem larger and more threatening to would-be predators.

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Habitat

Includes deserts, forests, grasslands, and rocky slopes from sea level up to over 10,000 feet in elevation.

Range

Also known as South African porcupines, this species predictably lives throughout the southern half of Africa.

Life Expectancy

These porcupines can live 12 to 15 years in the wild, but longer under human care.

Diet

An herbivorous diet includes fruit, roots, tubers, bark, berries, and any nearby agricultural crops. They wear down their ever-growing teeth by gnawing on bones or tree trunks.

Social Structure

They live in adult pairs or in family groups with offspring.

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