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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Sian Traynor

Edinburgh Zoo welcomes adorable baby porcupine as first to be born in Scotland

Edinburgh Zoo have been overjoyed after welcoming Scotland's first baby porcupine to be born in the country.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland announced this week that the baby porcupine, known as a porcupette, arrived safely earlier this year.

Born to first time parents at the zoo, Zahara and Rich, the prickly new arrival has been named Fiddich by the wildlife conservation charity’s patrons.

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Now one month old, the little Cape porcupine is said to be getting bolder and spending more time outside with mum and dad.

Common usually in central and southern Africa, the family would usually be found in woodlands, grasslands, deserts or rocky hills, but have their own special enclosure at the zoo.

With visitors welcome to try and spot the new arrival, keepers have said to keep an eye out for the animal's hard quills, which are made out of keratin, the same material that rhino horns and human fingernails are made of.

It comes as the zoo prepares to host its largest out of hours event since the pandemic, with hundreds of visitors expected to arrive for their Halloween Spooktacular event this month.

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Running from October 8 to October 30 on selected dates, the attraction will be setting up a haunted light trail with a number of family friendly characters popping up along the way.

Visitors hoping to spot the family can find out more about visiting the zoo and booking tickets here.

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