African crested porcupines are increasingly found in zoo collections. Their nocturnal habits and foraging needs require thoughtful captive management.
Porcupines in zoo settings often suffer from management that ignores their nocturnal nature. When kept in brightly lit daytime exhibits, they experience chronic disruption to their natural activity rhythms. Welfare-positive porcupine housing includes access to dark areas for daytime shelter, deep substrate for burrowing, and complex foraging challenges provided in the evening hours when the animals are naturally active. Pair housing supports their social bond, and enrichment should replicate root and tuber foraging through buried food items and puzzle feeders.