Malayan porcupine
Hystrix brachyura
— Where the name comes from
Brachyura is “short-tailed”, from brachýs and ourá: it separates this species from the crested and Indian porcupines, whose tails are longer and more conspicuous. It is the porcupine of the rainforest, a heavy animal living in a place where almost every large mammal is agile.
— Facts
- Group
- Mammals · Mammalia
- Order
- Rodents
- Habitat
- Rainforest, scrub, limestone caves, plantations
- Range
- From Nepal and southern China to Sumatra and Borneo
- Size
- 55–75 cm, tail 6–11 cm, 8–15 kg
- Diet
- Roots, tubers, fallen fruit, bark, carrion
- Lifespan
- 27 years in captivity
— Characteristics
- 01
It gnaws bones and antlers found in the forest to obtain calcium and phosphorus.
- 02
It lives in family groups inside dug burrows or in cave systems.
- 03
It is active at night and travels kilometres along fixed paths.
— What sets it apart
Concretions called bezoars form in its stomach, and the trade that has grown up around them is putting it at risk. In the traditional medicine of South-East Asia these stones are sold as a remedy against cancer and dengue at prices above gold by weight, and the hunting that follows is now the main threat to the species in Malaysia and Indonesia. A common animal made rare not by forest loss but by a substance found only inside some individuals.
