Husbandry, feeding, veterinary aspects, pathological findings and historical survivorship of Indian (Hystrix indica) and African (Hystrix cristata) crested porcupines in European zoos

Indian crested porcupines (Hystrix indica) and African crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata) are popular zoo animals in Europe and are kept by a total of around 400 institutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the husbandry and feeding conditions of these two porcupine species in European zoos in more detail and to collect common disease patterns. To this aim, data were collected from 90 responding zoos. On average, 3.8 ±2.7 porcupines were kept per enclosure, with most zoos (70%) having a combined outdoor and indoor enclosure. The average outdoor enclosure was 164 ±196 m² in size and supplemented by an average 14 ±18 m² indoor enclosure. The most common methods for population control were same-sex groups (39%) and a ‘breed and cull’ regime (28%). Medical training was practised by only 23% of the zoos. Although according to current knowledge porcupines rarely become ill under human care, there are some typical clinical