The Cape Porcupine is the largest species of porcupine in the world growing up to 90cm long. They are covered in quills which is where their name porcupine derives from as in French ‘porc espin’ means spined pig. These quills are what they use to defend themselves from predators puffing up and fanning out the longer white tipped quills to look big and then running backwards to embed its thicker quills into predators if needed. Porcupines have been known to injure lions, leopards, hyenas, even humans.
Cape porcupines are nocturnal and will often either dig dens underground or use hollow tree stumps to sleep in throughout the day. At night porcupines can travel for miles in search of food and will forage alone however they will live in small family groups made up of the monogamous adult pair and young of various ages.
Females will usually have 1 to 4 offspring a year called porcupettes. The babies are born with open eyes and developed teeth, though the quills on their backs are soft only leaving the den about a week later, just as their quills begin to harden.
IUCN Red List status: Least Concern
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, it occurs in a number of protected areas, tolerates habitat modification and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Some limited hunting by humans occurs some parts of the range, but the population overall is stable.
