Last month, a baby prehensile-tailed porcupine was born at Walt Disney World and today, the Disney Parks Blog shared the first pictures of the little cutie. While the baby doesn’t have a name quite yet, it’s thriving and bonding with mom.
What’s happening:
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom has welcomed a new creature to their family, this time it’s a baby prehensile-tailed porcupine!
- The Disney Parks Blog shared the exciting announcement this afternoon complete with plenty of adorable pictures.
- This cutie, known as a porcupette, was born on February 25th to mom Peri, who’s a bit of a celebrity in her own right.
- Peri was recently featured in the Disney+ series, One Day at Disney in a segment about veterinarian, Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko. In the documentary, Peri participates in an ultrasound with Dr. Natalie as seen below.
- Cast Members and Disney veterinarians provide world class care for the creatures at Disney’s Animal Kingdom like Peri, including, but not limited to annual exams, pregnancy check-ups, and post-partum care.
The porcupette born at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Did you know?:
- Porcupettes are covered in a fine red fur coat, but they’re also born with their tiny quills underneath, which begin to harden hours after birth. Those quills are actually what helped the team determine the baby’s gender. And guess what? It’s a girl!
- Prehensile-tailed porcupines have internal sex organs, so to determine a baby’s gender, the team actually has to send some of the tiny quills off to a lab for DNA testing.
Disney and the Species Survival Plan (SSP):
- Peri is one of many animals at Walt Disney World chosen to breed as part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP).
- This program is overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and ensures responsible breeding and genetic diversity of thousands of species of animals.
ICYMI:
- Disney thanked Cast Members for their dedication to caring for the wildlife at Animal Kingdom while the park is closed.