The Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital have taken in a little porcupette orphan after she and a sibling were found in a swimming pool.
Johannesburg, South Africa (10 November 2023) – It is our favourite kind of rescue when a little porcupette (the word for a baby porcupine) is taken in and given a chance to thrive. Porcupettes may be covered in sharp quills, which thankfully are not as powerful as their parents, but they have the cutest faces, with the shiniest noses and the biggest ears. Porcupettes are our favourites! One lucky porcupette was rescued from a swimming pool and taken to the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital where she is being raised for release back into the wild.
The little porcupine was sadly found in a swimming pool in Kibler Park where it looks like she and her sibling had fallen in. Sadly her sibling didn’t survive but this feisty young porcupette did and since being taken to the wildlife vet, she is growing strong.
The team have been teaching her how to forage for food as she is getting to the age where her mother would have started weaning her off milk and onto foraged foods. They shared some very interesting facts about a porcupine diet so let’s take a read:
“She was still rather young and she would still have been receiving milk from her mum. However, nearing weaning age, her mum would likely be introducing her to natural food sources, and she would learn as her mum foraged in the wild. Currently, we are weaning her off a special milk formula, and her favourite food items include the roots of dandelions, dandelion flowers, mulberry leaves, fruit and stems, (ethically sourced) African potato and hibiscus flowers! She also receives the odd bone too – did you know porcupines benefit from the minerals in bone, as well as sharpen their incisors while chewing on bones? These sharp, and continually growing incisors are used in conjunction with their claws to gnaw and dig out tubers and roots. Porcupines also enjoy gnawing, eating and girdling (removal of bark from a branch or tree trunk) bark off woody plants and trees.
We are still considering potential release sites for this porcupette, but thus far, she is growing well.”
They treat indigenous wildlife free of charge, relying solely on the support of the community. If you would like to get involved, you can find details below or check out the website here. If you want more adorable pictures of this rescue, you can find them here.
Thanks to programmes like One Meal, the veterinary hospital is able to provide nutritious and wholesome meals to the wildlife they care for. You can fund her delicious meals using the banking details below.
Johannesburg Wildlife NPC
FNB Cheque account
Account nr: 62658400264
Branch code: 255355
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ
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