LINCOLN–(KFOR Aug. 27)–The Lincoln Children’s Zoo on Wednesday announced the birth of a prehensile-tailed porcupine, the first-ever born at the Zoo.
The baby porcupine, referred to as a porcupette, was born on August 1, to mom, Nora, and dad, Renzo. The porcupette weighed 428 grams at two days old and has increased its weight to 1080 grams as of Tuesday. Baby porcupines are born with short quills that are covered by reddish-orange hair. As they grow, they gradually lose that hair, revealing their quills. At less than one month old, this porcupette has many visible quills and the team expects it to lose the remaining rust-colored hair within the next couple of weeks.
This baby porcupine, along with the Zoo’s two other prehensile-tailed porcupines, are ambassador animals and live behind the scenes. They engage with guests through programs at the Wild Safari Theater, education programs and special events…