Prague Zoo´s new exhibition presents Indian crested porcupines
Prague Zoo unveiled its new exhibit for Indian crested porcupines. Visitors will find it on the path between the Giant Tortoise House and the Giant Salamander exhibit in the lower part of the zoo’s grounds. At the moment the outdoor run features a group of females with two porcupettes. Once they have got used to their new home, Dante, a breeding male, will join them.
Indian crested porcupines are the northernmost representatives of their genus. The closest country to the Czech Republic where we can find them in the wild is Turkey. Photo Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
Miroslav Bobek, the Prague Zoo’s director, said, “The old porcupine enclosure in front of the Sichuan Pavilion has made room for a new aviary. Even though it did not meet the current standards, we were still sorry to see it go. In fact, the porcupines put on a great show, even in the last months before it was closed. Which is why we decided to build a new exhibit for them. This will also allow us to get closer when observing these popular animals.”
The new enclosure has a raised platform in its centre on which the breeders place the porcupines’ food. This means visitors can watch these prickly rodents at eye level. They can also peer into the indoor exhibition, which simulates an underground burrow, with tree roots growing down from the ceiling.
Prague Zoo has been breeding Indian crested porcupines since 1942. The male, Ferdinand, who died in 2012 at the age of 31, got into the history books by becoming the oldest documented individual of his species in the world.
The opening ceremony of the Indian crested porcupines exhibit was attended by Miroslav Bobek (right), Prague Zoo’s director, and Pavel Brandl, the curator of mammals. Photo Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
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- The Prague zoological garden
U Trojskeho zamku 120/3
171 00 Praha 7
Phone.: (+420) 296 112 230 (public relations department)
e-mail: zoopraha@zoopraha.cz
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