Trivia question for Jul-18-2011

Olivia likes all cute and cuddly creatures and in her eyes, these guys fall in that same category.  Lets see if you can answer her trivia.  These are tree-dwelling creatures who only descend to feed and travel.

These guys are actually large rodents, second in size only to beavers.  These guys are listed on the Red List of Threatened Animals but in their home range, they are actually listed as endangered.  Habitat loss if the number one reason these guys are becoming more scarce.  They eat leaves, fruit, bark, flowers and stems.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what this little critter is and where they can be found.  Also, tell us how many litters the female can produce in a normal lifespan in the wild?

Good luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Malathi from Bangalore India for being the first with the correct answer.   The cute little guy we featured is the Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine.  The prehensile-tailed porcupines are a group of arboreal porcupine found in Central and South America. They are closely related to the other Neotropical tree porcupines.

During a normal lifespan in the wild, females will have an average of 10-litters.  These guys reach sexual maturity within two to four years and they normally have just one baby during each litter after a gestation period of 6.5 months.  Here is more on these prickly little guys: Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine

Thanks for playing along 😉