Kaito -Porcupine

Late last year we received a telephone call about the welfare of a very small porcupine that was offered for sale in a pet shop in Johannesburg. A lady had arrived at the pet shop to purchase food for her dog and had found the small animal in one of the cages. She phoned SanWild to find out if conservation legislation prevented the sale of the small porcupine. She told us that she had enquired from the pet shop owner to where he had obtained the baby animal. He told her that he had received it from a breeder and that it was up for sale. This was most probably a lie anyway and the most likely scenario was that the young porcupine had been dug up from a burrow and had been taken from the wild and offered for sale. Sadly no legislation in South Africa prevents the sale of porcupines – babies or adults; neither does it protect other common and “insignificant” species such as tree squirrels, various types of mongoose, suricates or warthogs. These animals are regarded as vermin and our legislation does not deal with their protection adequately. SanWild has received a number of the mentioned species that are dumped by their owners when they become aggressive or grow into adulthood and start territorial scent marketing etc. This is when people realize that wild animals do not make good pets.

Anyway Kaito was extremely lucky to be spotted by a sympathetic member of the public. When this lady heard that nothing could be done to save him, other than to purchase him, she immediately donated the necessary funding that allowed us to help him. However she did have a special request – that Kaito be used as an ambassador to highlight the plight of innocent animals that are taken from the wild to be sold as pets.

Since arriving at SanWild he has grown substantially and we have learnt that porcupines are highly intelligent and sensitive. They do love attention and need to be with their own kind. Kaito has a great personality and is one of the most loving creatures that we have ever had the privilege of hand raising. At the moment he is living in the large flight aviary and will soon be released into the large holding camp to live with some of the antelope. In this large camp he will learn to forage and provide for himself before he is released back to the wild.