Prehensile-tailed Porcupine

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park has announced its first ever birth of a Prehensile-tailed Porcupine (Coendou prehensilis). She’s been named Pollie. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is one of Florida's oldest continuously running attractions, having opened on May 20, 1893.  Olivier, the Porcupette’s father, has been at the zoo since 1998 and is a star education animal. His mate, Miss Piggy, arrived in 2010 as a breeding companion and to ease Ollie’s show schedule.

    In late 2011, Miss Piggy’s weight began to steadily increase. The zoo’s veterinary staff attempted to perform a couple of voluntary ultrasounds during her pregnancy, but due to normal gas pockets within a porcupine’s abdomen, they were unsuccessful in viewing the growing baby. After a gestation of roughly 203 days, the uncomfortable mother finally gave birth on August 2, to a baby weighing just about 12 ounces (396 grams). She was covered with long, soft, reddish quills at birth, but the thicker, sharper adult quills quickly began to appear.

    Prehensile-tailed Porcupines are listed as a species of Least Concern due to their wide distribution across northern South America and a presumed large population.

( Photo Credit: St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, origin of text (altered slightly by me) unknown as it has gone from blog to blog. )