SANBI

Rationale

The species remains Least Concern in view of its wide distribution within the assessment region, its occurrence in many habitats, including agricultural and urban environments, and its relatively high densities in some regions. Hunting for bushmeat and persecution for damage caused to fences and crops may result in local declines. Holistic management strategies, such as creating artificial passageways in game fences and establishing sustainable quill and meat trades, should be employed for this species, with positive effects for the wider socio-ecological community.

Regional population effects: Extensive and well connected throughout all range states. Rescue effects are possible. Females do not conceive while living in their natal groups and dispersal is a prerequisite for successful reproduction (van Aarde 1987a; van Aarde & van Wyk 1991). However, it is unknown what distances they travel when dispersing.

Distribution

Cape Porcupines have a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, avoiding the tropical forests of the Congo basin, and the driest parts of the Namib Desert (Monadjem et al. 2015). They occur from Kenya and southern Uganda in the north, through Tanzania, Rwanda, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, extreme southwestern Congo, Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, and then south throughout southern Africa (although they are absent from much of central Botswana).

Within the assessment region, they occur widely across all provinces, as well as Swaziland and Lesotho. For example, Power (2014) recorded them as common throughout the North West Province, occurring in every vegetation type but showing some local preference for riparian and rocky habitats. In the Drakensberg Midlands, relative occupancy of ten terrestrial mammal species was highest for Cape Porcupine (Ramesh & Downs 2015). They may be locally absent from some areas where there is high hunting pressure (Skinner & Chimimba 2005).

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

It is a fairly common species across the assessment region, with relatively high densities. For example, in the semi-arid landscapes around Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape Province, burrow entrances were found to be a good predictor of the number of Porcupines it contained, where occupied burrow density was estimated to be 2.6 burrows / km² and density on the study farm was estimated to be 8 individuals / km² (Bragg et al. 2005). This high density in a semi-arid area was proposed by Bragg et al. (2005) to be a result of the high food availability in the region (high geophyte density). However, within more arid regions porcupine numbers can be as low as 0.8 individuals / km² such as in the Kalahari (Bragg, unpubl. data). Thus, we infer that there are over 10,000 mature individuals within the assessment region. However, hunting pressure and persecution (by farmers and farm labourers because it is a considered an agricultural pest, for bushmeat by rural communities, and for harvesting of the quills for use in the decor sector) may account for local extinctions in some areas, and current density estimates from throughout its range should be ascertained to determine population size more accurately.

Cape Porcupines live in extended family groups, consisting of a breeding male, breeding female and offspring of consecutive years (van Aarde 1987b). Female porcupine offspring do not conceive while in their natal groups and thus dispersal is a prerequisite for reproduction (van Aarde 1987b). This has important implications for the regulation of population size (van Aarde 1987a), because, if there are insufficient resources available in the environment, mature offspring cannot disperse from their natal group and thus cannot reproduce (van Aarde 1987a, 1987b). In captivity, the gestation period is c. 93 days, average litter size is 1â3, and young are usually suckled for 100 days or more (van Aarde 1985a, 1985b). Offspring attain sexual maturity between 1â2 years of age, during which time annual survival is relatively high for a rodent (van Aarde 1987a, 1987b, 1987c). The inter-litter interval in captivity is approximately one year (van Aarde 1985b).

Threats

There are no major threats to this species. However, bushmeat hunting and persecution may be causing local decline or even extinctions in some areas. Such local depletion should be monitored.

They are persecuted primarily for digging holes beneath fences, which, aside from the cost of repair, may allow predators into a farm or wildlife ranch with subsequent damage to livestock or game (Rust et al. 2015). Given the expansion of intensive wildlife ranching and the breeding of rare game species, which require increased fencing of properties, this threat could be increasing. They are also persecuted for damaging crops in agricultural areas (for example, Power 2014), especially where root crops are grown, and for ring-barking trees (which exposes the tree's heartwood and increases susceptibility to fungal infections). Correspondingly, Cape Porcupine occupancy was negatively correlated with human abundance, which could be related to persecution, and livestock activity in the Drakensberg Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal Province (Ramesh & Downs 2015). In the Eastern Cape, anecdotal reports suggest Cape Porcupines are being severely depleted by farmers and local communities to the extent that some subpopulations are locally extinct. Cape Porcupines are also often killed on roads.

Uses and trade

They may be extensively hunted for bushmeat, even within formally protected areas (for example, Hayward 2009). They are also used in traditional medicine and the quills are used as ornaments. The quill trade is suspected to have a negligible impact on the population as a whole (for example, Power 2014) but might have local impacts on subpopulations (Chevallier & Ashton 2006). They are also hunted as trophies in some regions.

Conservation

They occur in many protected areas within the assessment region. No direct interventions are necessary at present, but this species would benefit from encouraging landowners and local communities to adopt holistic management techniques, such as burying water pipes below ground to avoid porcupine damage, and setting up porcupine-permeable fences. For example, research from Namibia has shown that swing gates may be an effective alternate passageway for burrowing animals. For example, Schumann et al. (2006) and Rust et al. (2015) showed that the installation of swing gates decreased the number of holes created for the duration of the studies. Similarly, the use of discarded car tyres installed into wildlife-proof fences has been demonstrated to be a cost-efficient and effective way to reduce damage and facilitate dispersal, where Cape Porcupines and Black-backed Jackals (Canis mesomelas) used the tyres most frequently (Weise et al. 2014). Setting up electrified fencing around crops of high value would also provide a deterrent to porcupines and minimize agricultural losses.

Even though porcupines probably play a major role in maintaining the heterogeneity of landscapes and facilitating the persistence of patches of endangered geophyte species in vegetation types of conservation priority (C. Bragg unpubl. data), the Cape Porcupine continues to be actively eradicated from agricultural landscapes in South Africa. Clearly their value in the ecosystem has been understated and their conservation value needs to be recognised.

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:

The trade in Porcupine quills must be managed more sustainably and ethically.
Porcupine-friendly fences must be encouraged in farm and ranch lands to reduce damage.
Managers of high-priority vegetation types, such as Renosterveld, which contain high geophyte diversity, should be aware of the ecological value of porcupine herbivory and disturbance as a driver of diversity.

Research priorities: Research should determine how porcupines in urban areas utilise the urban-natural mosaic, as understanding how porcupines utilise these fragmented landscapes could elucidate the types and extent of corridors and refuges required to maintain overall biodiversity or resilience in urban conservation.
Further research should be focused on what levels of porcupine foraging activities are required to maintain diversity in different-sized Renosterveld fragments.

Encouraged citizen actions:

Report sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP), especially outside protected areas.

References

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