Porcu-pette Runt Gets Extra Care
February 25, 2022
African crested porcupine, Cleo, gave birth to three porcupettes earlier this month at Palm Beach Zoo. The family unit will stay in their outfitted night house for the time being with daily "house call" health care checks by our veterinary team and zoologists. All three newborns are currently happy and healthy, but one of them is growing a bit slower than its siblings. In the wild world, having a “runt” of a litter is not uncommon. Unfortunately, a weaker newborn is much less likely to survive in nature. Here, the runt gets a second chance! Our animal care team is prepared for such situations and made the necessary decision to intervene. He/she is being hand-raised by animal experts with the hopes of being reintroduced to its family when the time is right. Until then, he/she is loving the extra attention from our volunteer porcu-sitters and zoologists.
LOTS MORE PHOTOS BELOW THE FOLD! 
: Zoologist Jen R
Nicknamed "Orange", the runt is in the capable hands of the animal care team, it's steadily gaining weight and is as energetic as ever. Like any newborn, the required care is constant. So constant, in fact, that Orange has been going home with some of the trained staff to spend the night. Here you can see Supervisor Callie spending some quality time with the little one before their trip "home".