A baby porcupine is the first of its species to be born at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
The zoo in the US city’s western suburbs said the male baby porcupine, known as a porcupette, was born on July 2.
He weighed almost 1lb, and had soft quills that hardened after a few days.
We will get right to the point! A baby prehensile-tailed porcupine was born at Brookfield Zoo on July 2. The baby, called a porcupette, is being hand-reared by animal care staff…story and video at https://t.co/GKajuiRIMD pic.twitter.com/ZmaXqrkFmE
— Brookfield Zoo (@brookfield_zoo) July 10, 2018
The yet-to-be-named baby’s parents are Lucia and Eddie.
Zoo officials said they monitored Lucia and her baby for a while before determining she was not allowing him to nurse.
Veterinary and animal care workers are now bottle-feeding the young porcupine, and say he is now thriving.
The new prehensile-tailed porcupine, with a small, hook-like tail, will join his parents in the Hamill Family Play Zoo at approximately 10 weeks of age.
