Male Indonesian porcupines use vocalizations to attract females for mating. They use hums, whines, and grunts. Also, males urinate on females. When a mate is found, the male and female dance on their hind legs and whine and hum together. They sniff each other and put their paws on each other’s shoulder and sometimes rub noses.
Indonesian porcupines have a keen sense of smell, which they use to locate food. They have poor eyesight.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Hystrix pumila populations are considered stable.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
Indonesian porcupines are seen as nuisance animals on coconut plantations and in other areas as they gnaw on trees and leaves. They may transmit diseases due to the ticks and fleas they carry.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (carries human disease); crop pest
Indonesian porcupines are hunted for their meat. Also, the quills of H. pumila can be collected for ornaments and talismans.
Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material
Indonesian porcupines aid in seed dispersal through the defecation of seeds of fruit they have eaten.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Indonesian porcupines feed on vegetation, including coconuts, roots, bulbs, tubers, fruits, and berries. Sometimes they will feed on small vertebrates, insects, or carrion. They gnaw on bones for calcium and otherwise gnaw on branches, tree bark, and tree trunks to wear down their ever growing incisors.
Animal Foods: mammals; amphibians; carrion ; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Lignivore)
Hystrix pumila is found on the Philippine islands of Busuanga, Palawan, and Balabac also known as the Palawan Faunal Region.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: island endemic
Hystrix pumila prefers lowlands, primary forests, secondary forests, caves (including old mine shafts), and sometimes burrows. Burrows may hold up to ten individuals. Sometimes H. pumila individuals make nests of plant material within dens. Preferred habitat of Indonesian porcupines consists of grassland and agricultural mosaic, abandoned and active plantations, and also rugged areas.
Range elevation: Sea level to 3500 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; mountains
Other Habitat Features: suburban ; agricultural ; caves
Indonesian porcupines live 9 to 15 years in the wild. A captive individual lived for 9.5 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 9.5 years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 9 to 15 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 9.5 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 9.5 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 9.5 years.
Tail length of Hystrix pumila ranges from 2.5 to 19 cm. Indonesian porcupines have short nasal bones, an enlarged infraorbital foramen, and a hystricognathous lower jaw. They have a stocky build, small eyes, small ears, and has a short rounded head with no head or neck mane. The dorsal coloring is dark brown to black with light speckles, the underside is brown to gray-white. The quills are flattened, with longer rigidity near the tip. Tail quills have shorter open-ended quills that rattle loudly. The hair is bristle-like. The forefeet have four well developed digits while the hind feet have five digits. Indonesian porcupines have short claws and the soles of the feet are smooth and naked.
Range mass: 3.8 to 5.4 kg.
Range length: 42 to 93 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Indonesian porcupines, like other porcupines, use their formidable quills to defend themselves against predators. There are no known predators in the wild.
Indonesian porcupines are monogamous. After attracting a mate, female H. pumila raise their rear and tail high while her chest is on the ground. The male then proceeds to mount the female by clasping her sides with its front paws and balancing on its hind feet.
Mating System: monogamous
Indonesian porcupines usually have one young in each litter, sometimes two. In their lifetime, they can have from 6 to 12 young. Indonesian porcupines begin to eat solids at two weeks old, even though they are still receiving milk from their mother. They breed from March to December.
Breeding interval: Indonesian porcupines breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs from March to December.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Range gestation period: 93 to 105 days.
Range weaning age: 3 to 4 months.
Average time to independence: 2 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 9 to 18 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 9 to 18 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Like other mammals, female Indonesian porcupines nurse and care for their young until they are independent. Males typically are not involved in caring for young.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
The Philippine porcupine or Palawan porcupine (Hystrix pumila) is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) endemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. It is known locally as durian or landak.
Apparently, its population is stable, but it is reported to be persecuted by farmers as pests in coconut plantations. Locally common to uncommon, the species is found in primary and secondary forest in the mountains and in the lowlands. This species also inhabits caves, but is commonly found under tree buttresses or in rock crevices. It endemic and restricted to the Palawan Faunal Region. It has been recorded in the islands of Busuanga, Calauit, and Coron, and on the mainland at the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and the forested areas of El Nido.
This mammal appears to have no natural enemies. Its outer covering of spines serves as its protection and defense system. It measures about 42–93 cm (1.38–3.05 ft) long, not counting a tail of about 2.5–19 cm (0.98–7.48 in) and weighs 3.8–5.4 kg (8.4–11.9 lb).
The Philippine porcupine or Palawan porcupine (Hystrix pumila) is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) endemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. It is known locally as durian or landak.
Apparently, its population is stable, but it is reported to be persecuted by farmers as pests in coconut plantations. Locally common to uncommon, the species is found in primary and secondary forest in the mountains and in the lowlands. This species also inhabits caves, but is commonly found under tree buttresses or in rock crevices. It endemic and restricted to the Palawan Faunal Region. It has been recorded in the islands of Busuanga, Calauit, and Coron, and on the mainland at the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and the forested areas of El Nido.
This mammal appears to have no natural enemies. Its outer covering of spines serves as its protection and defense system. It measures about 42–93 cm (1.38–3.05 ft) long, not counting a tail of about 2.5–19 cm (0.98–7.48 in) and weighs 3.8–5.4 kg (8.4–11.9 lb).
