Mammals · Rodentia · Hystricidae

Indian Crested Porcupine

Hystrix indica

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The Indian crested porcupine is a large, robust rodent covered in black and white quills that can be more than thirty centimetres long. It is nocturnal and digs extensive burrows in which it usually lives as a pair with that year's young. It eats roots, tubers, bark and fallen fruit, and gnaws bones and antlers to obtain calcium and wear down its incisors. The damage it does to crops causes frequent conflict in India and Pakistan.

Weight

11 kg – 18 kg

Size

70 cm – 90 cm

Lifespan

20 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestDesertMountainGrasslandHerbivore Nocturnal In pairs Temperate forest Desert Mountain Grassland Mammal

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Fun facts

When it feels threatened it raises its quills, rattles the hollow ones on its tail, stamps and reverses at speed into the attacker: the quills detach as they lodge, and the infection that follows can kill a leopard.
It collects and gnaws bones it finds in the field to obtain calcium, and its burrows accumulate so many bone remains that palaeontologists study them as natural assemblages of the local fauna.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Rocky areas, dry scrub, open woodland and farmland of southern and western Asia
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 3.7 months
Litter / clutch size: 2

Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_crested_porcupine