Preservation of biodiversity is key to the sustainable development of the world. In this issue we profile one of the fascinating faunal species existing on earth – the porcupine. Something different from the usual, a rare but precious animal that is on demand for its quills, bezoars and meat. The porcupine is a large mammal which is nocturnal, solitary and slow moving. The rodent has sharp quills on its back, which can be a menace to predators. Despite increased awareness on biodiversity conservation across the world, porcupines remain vulnerable to poaching, habitat loss and hunting. These herbivores are adaptable as they are found in a variety of habitats, as long as there is vegetation. A porcupine is not listed as an endangered species but is regarded as a threatened species.
A porcupine is a type of rodent which is found in several regions across the world. About 25 species are in existence across the globe. The porcupine is native to more than 30 countries. They occur in North, Central, South America, Asia and Africa in a wide range of vegetation types from semi-desert to tundra. These regions have been termed as the Old World and the New World and it has been discovered that they live on the opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Old World porcupines (family Hystricidae) live in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Examples include the North African crested porcupine, the African brush-tailed porcupine and the Indian crested porcupine. The New World porcupines (family Erethizontidae) live in North, Central, and South America and these include the Canadian porcupine, the Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine and the Brazilian porcupine. In Zimbabwe the most common porcupine is called the Cape Porcupine (Hystrix Africaeaustralis).
All porcupines have short, stocky legs, but their tails range from short to long, with some being prehensile. The most striking feature on the porcupine are its quills, which are sometimes termed spines. It is believed that each porcupine has up to 30 000 hollow quills on its body and no matter how many it loses, these quills always grow back. The quills are used to make some of Africa’s favorite ornaments and some even believe them to be a good luck charm. The porcupine quills can also be dyed and used in decorative work. The hollow rattle quills also serve as musical instruments and were once used as containers for gold dust. As a result of these perceived or real demands, the life of the porcupine is threatened.
The quills take various forms depending on the species but all are modified hairs embedded in skin musculature. Old World porcupines (Hystricidae) have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines (Erethizontidae), single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur and hair. These quills can grow up to 35cm long. No porcupine can throw its quills. Instead they detach easily like any hairs and fur on any other animal. Thus the quills are not as dangerous as they were described by the philosopher Aristotle who warned of the dangers of getting too close to a porcupine. Aristotle described the porcupine as the quilled beast which could shoot its deadly needle like darts over great distances, at hunters and predators. The quills on any porcupine, whether new world or an old world, are just modified hairs made out of keratin. Porcupines have muscles at the base of each quill that allow them to stand up when the animal is excited or alarmed. Like all hairs, quills do shed and when the porcupine shakes, loose quills can fly off but not with a deadly force.
Even though the porcupine bears quills, its life is still in danger from predators and human beings. One porcupine predator, the fisher, is able to flip the North American porcupine onto its back, exposing its unprotected belly making it more vulnerable. In North America, the fisher has been reintroduced in some areas with the aim of bringing destructive porcupine populations under control. Large cats especially lions and human hunters threaten Old World porcupines whilst predators such as martens, wolverines, pythons, eagles, and great-horned owls threaten the New World porcupines. In Zimbabwe, the porcupine is a revered totem called “Ngara, Chiwasa, Chikandamina or Nungu” in local Shona dialect.
Other than the wildlife predators, another threat in the life of a porcupine comes from the human wildlife conflict. As the human population increases, there is pressure on available resources and the need to exploit new lands arises. Human beings go on to exploit forests and idle land which is a habitat to animals such as the porcupine. The short sighted and slow-moving porcupine becomes victim to the land clearing and forest fires either through death or being forced to look for a new habitat. Porcupines feed on cultivated crops too. When humans settle close to a porcupine hub, the porcupine can become a serious agricultural pest. To get rid of them, porcupines are smoked out of their burrows, hunted with spears, nets and dogs. These practices, over the years, have eliminated porcupines from settled areas. If these practices continue, porcupines will be completely eliminated from the face of the earth.
Illegally hunting for porcupine meat is a serious challenge especially in Asian countries. There are superstitions tied to the alleged qualities of the meat and these have resulted to the relatively vulnerable mammal being a frequent target for poachers. Porcupine meat is believed to possess health related benefits. There are claims that porcupine meat cleanses kidneys and increases fertility. Wildlife experts say that rampant killing of porcupines could lead to them being labelled endangered soon.
Excessive hunting has been cited as the porcupine’s greatest threat, and the 1990s saw a reported population decline of at least 20 per cent. Commercial farming of porcupines encouraged by Southeast Asian governments is also another contributory factor as it is actively fuelling the illegal hunting. Research from the University of East Anglia, published in Biological Conservation, has shown that the continual consumption of the South East Asian porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) as a delicacy is having a devastating effect on wild populations.
In an article by Peter Yeung (2019), another important factor which is likely to lead porcupines to become extinct is the stomach content. In Southeast Asia, porcupines are being poached for their stomach content, an onion-shaped mass of undigested plant material in their gut known as bezoars. Demand is being predominantly driven by China following some beliefs that bezoars, which accumulate in the digestive tract, have potent medicinal properties, including the ability to cure diabetes, dengue fever, and cancer. This is despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence to validate any curative properties of bezoars. The Philippine porcupine, the Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine, and the Malayan porcupine, which live throughout Southeast Asia, are all flagged as threatened and declining in number by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Although no porcupine has been listed as endangered yet, continuation of these practices may drive them towards becoming endangered or extinct. It is therefore imperative to employ robust measures to protect this rare mammal for the benefit of future generations.
