The Punk Rocker of the Bushveld

Big, bold, and covered in weaponized hair—the African Porcupine is a living contradiction. It’s Africa’s largest rodent, but it’s anything but timid. Armed with a coat of quills up to 50 cm long, this slow-moving creature doesn’t run from trouble—it warns it.

When threatened, it raises its spines, shakes its hollow tail quills (creating a signature rattle that sounds like a bushland maraca), and then reverses into danger. It won’t shoot its quills—contrary to myth—but it can drive them in with force, leaving painful souvenirs in anything foolish enough to try its luck.

Mostly nocturnal, porcupines come out at night to forage for roots, tubers, bark, fruit, and bones (yep, they chew bones to get calcium). By day, they hole up in caves, rocky crevices, or burrows—often ones they’ve taken over from aardvarks or dug themselves.

They’re not loners, either. Porcupines usually live in small family groups and form tight bonds, raising their one to three porcupettes (yes, that’s what baby porcupines are called!) in safe dens.

And while they look a little awkward on the move, they’re clever navigators, marking paths with scent and memory. They can live up to 15 years, which is no small feat in a world of toothy predators.

Soft-footed, hard-headed, and wildly underestimated—the African Porcupine is the unsung badass of the African night.