Remember that heartwarming announcement Dr. Mark Penning announced earlier, well we’re excited to share that the big news was the arrival of a baby porcupine, also called a porcupette.
Although Walt Disney World Resort is closed temporarily during the Coronavirus crisis, the park’s intrepid animal care team continues its top-notch care to the thousands of animals who inhabit the resort’s various parks and resorts.
You have to admit this porcupette is porcu-cute!
The adorable baby prehensile tail porcupine was born to mom Peri on February 25. Peri had a featured role in the One Day at Disney documentary on Disney+ where she was given an ultrasound by Disney veterinarian Dr. Natalie.
Now we finally get a look at the long-awaited arrival of Peri’s baby. Here’s a closer look:
When porcupettes are born, they have a fine coat of red fur. Their quills are there, but just still really tiny underneath the fur. The quills harden and grow as the baby gets older a process that starts almost right after birth.
Since prehensile-tailed porcupines have internal sex organs, some extra examination is required to determine gender. To determine this baby’s gender, Disney’s veterinary team sent some of the quills off to a lab for a DNA test which revealed that Peri gave birth to a girl!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and its Species Survival Plan (SSP) for animals like Prehensile Tailed Porcupines. The SSP helps ensure responsible breeding and genetic diversity of thousands of species of rare and endangered animals.
We’re glad Disney is still sharing these super cute, magical moments with us even if we can’t get out to the park to see the porcupette in person.
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I needed this in my day. Thank you. Also my new word of the day is “porcupette”. ?
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