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.

Kankoe came to Wildmind in 2009, when she was just four weeks old. She was an unexpected birth at a zoo, and when the staff noticed her mother was not feeding her, she was removed from her enclosure and hand-fed.

Kankoe enjoys enrichment activities, especially digging in sand, going on walks and playing with food that she can carry (pumpkins, gourds and handmade treats). When excited, she does her “happy dance,” grunting and bouncing with glee. She loves her ears scratched, and actually gets so excited that while you rub her ears, she licks your hand or knees.

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

Like all porcupines she chews on everything, so toys have to be edible and hearty! Large rodent chews made of wood and alfalfa are favorites for Kankoe, 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. She takes her treats VERY seriously.