BINGHAMTON – The newest addition to the Binghamton Zoo made its arrival on this month. A healthy prehensile-tailed porcupette (young porcupine) was born on Saturday, February 3, 2018.

This is the third porcupette birth for parents Mattie and Zoey. In the past, Zoey has given birth on Father’s Day 2015 and Saint Patrick’s Day 2016.

The Binghamton Zoo animal care team has been monitoring the progress of the porcupette and its parents. Weighing in at 690 grams, the baby has progressively gained weight since its birth weight of 429 grams.

Like the other births, this is a major success for the prehensile-tailed porcupine’s Species Survival Plan (SSP). Mattie and Zoey have remained a successful breeding pair for their program. Their previous offspring have gone to Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Zoo Miami to be matched with other porcupines in the prehensile-tailed porcupine SSP.