Inside Salisbury: A prickly character receives a warm welcome plus another baby gets ready to greet the public
Two young animals will be stars of the show at Longleat this Mother's Day.
By Annette J Beveridge
LONGLEAT has welcomed a new arrival born at the park for the very first time.
This prickly baby North American tree porcupine (porcupette) was born to mum Fennel and dad Mango who are both first-time parents. The gestation period for this species is approximately seven months with females giving birth to a single offspring.
Porcupettes are born with soft quills to allow the mother to give birth, but these harden into regular quills within hours of birth. They begin eating vegetables at around two weeks old and will be fully weaned by three months old.
Longleat Animal Adventure keeper, Samantha Peeke, said: “We’re really excited for this arrival, as it’s something we as keepers have been waiting a long time for. Fennel and Mango really hit it off when they were introduced last year, and it’s amazing to already have a little porcupette with us.”
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The porcupette has not been sexed or named yet and is currently dependent on mum to be fed.
She said: “Porcupettes are born with their eyes open and able to move around by themselves, which the little one took in its stride when it ventured out of the nest box and into the outdoors at less than a day old. The little one was spotted attempting to climb branches and chew on trees, although they were a little wobbly at first and definitely need more practice.
Samantha added: “It’s common for the mum to leave their young at the bottom of the tree whilst they go and forage, and Fennel has been doing incredibly well as a first-time mum and has been protective of her baby as we would expect.
“Mango hasn’t shown too much interest in the porcupette, he’s much more interested in his dinner,” she added.
The new arrival is thought to be one of only three North American tree porcupines born in the UK in the last 12 months.
Get ready to meet the baby red-necked wallaby
AN unusual reproductive phenomenon has enabled a baby red-necked wallaby to greet the world and the public this Mother’s Day.
A red-necked wallaby joey was born to four-time mum Lara at Longleat Safari Park via a process called embryonic diapause which temporarily halts the development of an embryo until the mother can support a new joey and the pouch is free.
Wallabies can get pregnant soon after giving birth and have a short gestation period of only 30 days before the joey then stays in mum’s pouch for 10-12 months. Embryonic diapause also occurs in other marsupials.
Animal Adventure Keeper, Emily Sage, said “It’s always exciting at this time of year when babies begin arriving, and this arrival for Lara is particularly exciting as we weren’t expecting any wallaby joeys this year due to Dodger, our male, moving to a new home.
“Lara has been a fantastic mum to her other three joeys, and I’ve been lucky enough to be here for all her births. She is one of my favourite wallabies and it’s a privilege to meet another one of her babies.”
Although the joey was born around January, the baby announced its presence by poking its head out of the pouch on February 14. At the moment, the keepers do not know whether the baby is male or female.
Both mum and baby are doing well and can be seen at Family Farmyard this Mother’s Day and throughout the Easter holidays. Longleat has ten red-necked wallabies.
