A prickly new arrival

A prickly new arrival has been born at Longleat in a first for the park.

We have welcomed a baby North American tree porcupine, otherwise known as a porcupette. Born to mum Fennel and dad Mango, both are first time parents, with Mango only arriving at the park last spring.

Samantha Peeke, Animal Adventure keeper said “We’re really excited for this arrival, as it’s something we as keepers have been waiting a long time for. Fennel and Mango really hit it off when they were introduced last year, and it’s amazing to already have a little porcupette with us."

Porcupette’s are born with their eyes open and able to move around by themselves, which the little one took in its stride when it adventured out of the nest box and into the outdoors at less than a day old.

“The little one was spotted attempting to climb branches and chew on trees, although they were a little wobbly at first and definitely need more practice. It’s common for the mum to leave their young at the bottom of the tree whilst they go and forage, and Fennel has been doing incredibly well as a first-time mum and has been protective of her baby as we would expect.

“Mango won’t have too much interest in the porcupette, instead he’ll be much more interested in his dinner!”

The porcupette hasn’t been sexed or named yet and is currently dependent on mum to be fed. It is thought to be one of only three North American tree porcupines born in the UK in the last 12 months.

Longleat’s tree porcupines can be found in Animal Adventure and seen by guests across Mother’s Day Weekend and the upcoming Easter holidays.