Prehensile-tailed Porcupine

NAME:

Prehensile-tailed Porcupine

ZOO NAME:

Ringo and Daisy

CLASS:

Mammalia

ORDER:

Rodentia

GENUS:

Coendou

SPECIES:

C. prehensilis

LENGTH:

Body Length: 21 inches. Tail Length: 18 inches

WEIGHT:

2 to 11 Lbs

LIFESPAN:

17 yrs (captivity), 10-12 yrs (wild)

DIET:

Primarily herbivorous: Leaves, flowers, shoots, roots, and the cambium layer of some trees

RANGE

South America: Venezuela, Paraguay, Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Trinidad, and some extreme northern areas of Argentina

HABITAT

Rainforest areas between 150-2500 meters in elevation. They spend most of their time up in trees and on occassion may enter cultivated areas.

CHARACTERISTICS

The body is covered with white to yellow colored short,thick spines and darker hairs interspersed. The last one-third of the prehensile tail does not have spines and the tip of the tail curls upward to allow a better grip on the branches of trees. All four padded feet have four toes with long claws to be able to hold on to branches firmly and allow these porcupines to be great climbers. They have a keen sense of smell, touch, and hearing but are very near-sighted.

BEHAVIOR

Nocturnal and arboreal, they may sleep in small groups in trees but usually live in pairs or are solitary. Prehensile-tailed Porcupines are generally shy, slow-moving animals but when threatened they may actively stomp their feet, shake their spines and make grunting noises.They may also roll into a ball exposing their spines.

REPRODUCTION

Gestation lasts from approximately 195 to 210 days (7 Months), after which one large precocial young is born. Newborn prehensile-tailed porcupines have long reddish-orange hair and soft spines that will later harden to become stiff quills as they age. Young are weaned at 10 weeks. Sexual maturity is reached at about 19 months of age.

THREATS

Some use as food but habitat destruction is main threat.