RANGE | African crested porcupines can be found in sub-Saharan Africa through parts of South Africa. In the Mediterranean, they can be found on the island of Sicily, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; they are also recorded in Ghana, Libya, and along the Egyptian coast.

FUN FACTS | African crested porcupines are the largest of all of the porcupines. Unlike many species of porcupines, these are terrestrial animals that dig burrows underground for protection from the extreme weather and temperatures as well as from predators. No porcupines can shoot their quills since quills are just modified hairs. Rather than short barbed quills that are similar in size to a plastic toothpick like the North and South American porcupines, the quills on these animals can grow to be more than a foot long and come to a very sharp point, designed to stab a predator as a defense strategy. Porcupines are herbivores and, despite their small eyes and relatively poor sight, they are primarily nocturnal.

Asante came to Wildmind in fall 2023, when he was about 7–8 months old. He was an unexpected birth at a zoo, and when the staff noticed his mother was not feeding him, he was removed from the enclosure and hand-fed. We named him Asante, which means “thank you” in Swahili, since we were so thankful to become his new forever home.

Asante enjoys enrichment activities, especially digging in sand, going on walks and playing with food that he can carry (pumpkins, gourds, and handmade treats). When excited, he does his “happy dance,” grunting and bouncing with glee. He loves his ears scratched, and actually gets so excited that while you rub his ears, he licks your hand or knees. He also loves to carry his empty food bowl and push it around his enclosure, tossing it in the air and pushing sand over it!

SPECIAL NEEDS | In the wild, porcupines build their den under the ground, so we provide an XL dogloo with hay for a den. She has no medical needs at this time.

Like all porcupines he chews on everything, so toys have to be edible and hearty! Large rodent chews made of wood and alfalfa are favorites for Asante, as are phone books! We often hide nuts and dried berries in the pages and, by the next morning, the phone book has been shredded and the pages cover the floor of her enclosure. He takes his treats VERY seriously.