Say hello to Woodland Park Zoo’s first-ever porcupette.
“We have to admit: we didn’t see this one coming!” said the zoo in announcing the baby porcupine’s birth.
Handlers say 2-year-old mother Molly gave birth to the baby boy on April 18 after apparently having become pregnant sometime in September. The boy’s father is a 2-year-old porcupine named Oliver.
A porcupette is born with a full coat of soft quills, which begin to harden immediately after birth, according to the zoo. The creature's climbing instincts begin to take shape in several weeks.
The newborn and his mother are being kept in a den behind the zoo’s Tundra Center, but they do leave from time to time to stretch their legs in the exhibit, handlers said. They'll join the exhibit in several weeks.
