In this latest edition of London-Zoo-welcomes-insanely-cute-baby-animals, it’s safe to say that we might have had our hearts stolen just before Valentine’s Day this year. These adorable baby porcupines been born at London Zoo, and pictures of the pair have just been released.
Describing them better than we ever could as “spiky bundles of joy”, the zoo shared images of the two new-born porcupines today (January 31) — lovingly referring to them as porcupettes.
They’re just over two weeks old and were born at the conservation zoo on January 14 (cancel your Valentine’s plans, we’re celebrating their first month birthday instead!). Zookeeper Veronica Heldt discovered them via the zoo’s porcupine-cam, finding that their parents, Hettie and Henning, had welcomed the newborn twins.
Speaking about the pair, she said: “Our new arrivals are developing really well. Although they’re only two weeks old, the nocturnal little ones are already confidently exploring their surroundings and bonding well with their new family.
“We’ve named the precious pair Hector and Hinata; all the porcupines in the family have names starting with the letter ‘H’ so Hector and Hinata join parents Hettie and Henning, nine-month-old Hershey and five-month-old Henry.”
“Thankfully for mum Hettie, baby porcupines are born with short, soft quills that harden at about one week of age, so labour wasn’t as painful as people might imagine!”
If you need some measurements to know how small they really are, the first health checkup weighed them in at a healthy 660g and 750g. Once they’ve fully grown, they could weigh up to 15kg – but for now they’re a long way from that, which you can probably tell from the pictures!
Hector and Hinata are now part of the largest species of porcupine, the Cape Porcupine, which are native to central and southern Africa.
Our hearts, London Zoo, our hearts!
Find out more about the baby porcupines here!