Birth of ‘deceivingly fluffy’ creature at Utah zoo is ‘extra special.’ Here’s why
A baby porcupine is “growing like a weed” at a zoo in Utah, officials said.
The “bundle of quills” was born April 27 to parents Blackberry and Barton, Utah’s Hogle Zoo announced in a May 19 post on Facebook.
It weighed a little more than 2 pounds when it was born, according to zoo officials.
And although porcupettes — the name for baby porcupines — have soft quills at birth, the quills “harden within hours and (the porcupettes) are ready to defend themselves from day one by raising their quills and swinging their tails,” zoo officials said.
It’s unclear yet whether the porcupette is male or female, zoo officials said.
The critter “is still shy and usually stays tucked away,” according to zoo officials, who said it’ll stay with mom Blackberry for the next several months before eventually becoming a species ambassador at another facility.
The birth of the North American porcupine baby “is extra special” because “first-time porcupine moms” like Blackberry “don’t often have successful pregnancies or births,” zoo officials said, noting in a zoo website post that “about 40% of first births are stillborn.”
Zoo officials said that, “Blackberry’s successful delivery and the care she’s shown as a new mom make this milestone even more meaningful!”
Facebook commenters were taken with the prickly baby.
“I’m in love!!!” one person wrote.
“So cute!!” wrote another.
Another person asked, “How do they look so deceivingly fluffy?”
Utah’s Hogle Zoo is in Salt Lake City.
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