Turtle Back Zoo Welcomes Baby Porcupine Just in Time for Mother’s Day
(May 1, 2015 – West Orange, NJ): Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ has welcomed their newest “zoo born,” an unsexed baby porcupine – or porcupette. Born on April 16, mother and baby are doing well and are officially on exhibit. So visitors to the zoo can see them just in time for Mother’s Day – what a wonderful way to celebrate the bond between mother and child!
While their Latin name technically means “quill pig,” porcupines are actually rodents. These sharp dressed mammals are actually covered with soft hair as well as quills, which are actually modified hairs, that stand up when a porcupine feels threatened. Not only does this make the porcupine look larger, but it also delivers a prickly poke to a predator who gets too close. Sharp, strong teeth allow these herbivores to crack open nuts and eat barks, roots, fruits and leaves. There are about 12 different porcupine species, and they can be found in North, Central and South America; Southern Europe; Asia; and regions of Africa.
Turtle Back Zoo is a great place to visit on Mother's Day weekend. It will be open from 10:00am- 4:30pm on Saturday, 11:00am- 5:30pm on Sunday. For more information, visit TurtleBackZoo.com – or facebook.com/TurtleBackZoo.
Contact: Anne Martin at The S3 Agency
973-257-5533 or amartin@theS3agency.com
About The Turtle Back Zoo
Turtle Back Zoo, New Jersey’s #1 Zoo, is AZA-accredited and features over 800 animals from around the world. Turtle Back Zoo is part of South Mountain Recreation Complex, located in West Orange, NJ. Opened in 1963, Turtle Back Zoo is committed to providing an enriching recreation experience that fosters excellence in wildlife education and wildlife conservation for present and future generations.
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