Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 135, March 2016, pp. 1-20. | Page 15

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Food and Digestion
The crested porcupine is for the most part herbivorous, eating roots, bulbs, crops.
But occasionally they do consume insects, small vertebrates and carrion. In order
to ingest calcium and sharpen incisors they often gnaw on bones. These animals
often travel long distances looking for food. They have high crowned teeth that
grind plant cells which are digested in the stomach and the undigested fibers are
retained in an enlarged appendix and anterior large intestine where they are
broken down by microorganisms (Wikipedia).

Reproduction
Most of what is known about reproduction in the crested porcupine comes from
individuals in captivity. Usually female crested porcupines have one litter every
year. One or two very well developed young are born in a chamber within the
burrow that is usually lined with grass, but only after a 66 day gestation period,
on average. The young weigh about 1000 g at birth, which is about five percent of
the mother’s weight. They leave the den after one week. At this time the spines
begin to harden. Crested porcupines reach adult weight at one to two years and
are often sexually mature just before then (Wikipedia).

The Natural History Museum sign in Al-Baq’a Suburb, West Jerusalem, Occupied
Palestine. Photo: Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa.
27.07.2014. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15375410527/
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 135 – March 2016