Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 135, March 2016, pp. 1-20. | Page 6

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sight is limited. They are reputed to be quite intelligent animals, as evidenced by
their uncanny ability to avoid traps. They normally live about ten years in the
wild, and average twenty years in captivity, which they seem to tolerate well.
How do Indian Porcupines mate? Very carefully; but they mate only with one
partner as they form monogamous couples, which is very rare among mammals.
After a gestation period of about 90 – 105 days the female gives birth to a litter of
2-4 young, which are born with their eyes open, and the body is covered by short
soft quills. There may be up to 2 liters per year (Yerevan Zoo).
Indian porcupines have a voracious appetite for human-grown crops, thus they
are considered a major threat to agriculture. They eat human-grown crops of
almost all kinds, in addition to wild vegetation, carrion, small bugs and
mammals, and bones or antlers. Except when parents are teaching their young to
forage, the search for food is usually solitary. They seem to prefer wandering
along roads or tracks, and have been observed traveling more than nine miles in
a single nighttime foraging trip (Yerevan Zoo).

A selfie photo with the taxidermied Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica Kerr, 1792)
at the Paulus-Haus Museum – Deutscher Verein vom Heiligen Lande in Al-Quds,
Occupied Palestine. Selfie-Photo: Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalafvon Jaffa. 23.07.2014. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15371044357/
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 135 – March 2016