Romance in the air for safari park's porcupines

Zookeepers are hoping to see baby porcupines - known as a porcupettes - following the arrival of Gus, a male prehensile-tailed porcupine.

Longleat Safari Park, located between Bath and Salisbury, has welcomed Gus (short for Asparagus), who they hope will spark up a romance with their female porcupine, Pumpkin.

The park currently has three species of porcupine, with Gus being their first male prehensile-tailed porcupine, also known as the Brazilian porcupine.

Jon Ovens, the lead keeper, said: "It was lovely to see them getting on from the first moment of meeting so we will be keeping an eye on them but the average pregnancy is around 200 days so we have some time to wait."

Longleat welcomed a baby North American tree porcupine in 2025, also at the park is a Cape Porcupine called Pepper.

Porcupines are nocturnal rodents which spend their days resting in hollow trees or underground burrows, only coming out at night to forage for food.

Porcupines are best known for their sharp quills that cover their bodies.

The spines on their tails make a rattling sound to scare away any predators.

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