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| Common Name: | North American tree porcupine | Family: | Erethizontidae |
| Latin Name: | Erethizon dorsatum | Diet: | Herbivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Woodlands, Grasslands |
| Native To: | North America | Social Unit: | Individual |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Least concern |
North American tree porcupines at Edinburgh Zoo
Edinburgh Zoo has two North American tree porcupines: Hazel, who arrived here in February 2008 from Belgium, and her daughter, Peanut, who was born in April 2009.
North American tree porcupine photo by
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
Our North American porcupines can be found at the south end of the park, next to the beaver pond and sea lion pool.
North American tree porcupines in the wild
As the name suggests, the North American tree porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is native to North America. However, its range includes Canada all the way up to Alaska, and down to the northern boundary of Mexico. It lives in a variety of habitats, including dense forests, tundra, grasslands and desert shrub. Aside from the beaver, the North American tree porcupine is the largest rodent in North America.
The porcupine is usually dark brown or black in colour, with light-coloured or white highlights. Adult porcupines typically weigh around 14 kg (30 lb). Their upper bodies are covered with thousands of sharp, barbed spines or “quills.” These long, hollow spikes are used for defence. The quills usually lay flat against the body, but when the porcupine is threatened, the quills rise up in warning! The porcupine does not shoot the very sharp quills; rather, they come out easily when something brushes against them, and the barbs at the end of the quills ensure that they stay lodged in where they have stuck. Porcupines also swing their quilled tails at attackers.
The diet of the porcupine is varied, and shows a significant difference in what is eaten during summer months and what is eaten during winter months. In the winter, porcupines generally feed on the bark and inner parts of trees, including sugar maple, hemlock, linden, bigtooth aspen, and Douglas fir. Because individual porcupines will repeatedly return to and feed extensively on one particular tree, they can cause serious damage to trees and even kill them. In the spring, the porcupine feeds on roots, steams, leaves, berries, seeds and grasses.
Porcupine quills are coated with a fatty acid that has a mildly antibiotic quality. This prevents infection when porcupines fall from tree branches and get stuck with their own quills—which happens with some frequency, as porcupines often try to reach the tender buds and twigs at the end of slender tree branches.
IUCN Red List category: Least Concern
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