Crested porcupine sighted in the wild in France for the first time, Digi Mart USA News (Castellar, Alpes-Maritimes, France): Unprecedented nighttime images captured by a camera trap have revealed the presence of a free-roaming porcupine in Castellar, a small commune in the Alpes-Maritimes located on the Italian border. According to the source, this is the first time such an animal has been filmed in the wild on French territory, outside zoos or animal parks.
Castellar mayor Anne-Marie Curti was among the first to learn of the sighting. A resident who keeps a camera trap permanently in her garden immediately sent her the images.
“At first, I thought it was a joke,” the mayor said, adding that she was delighted by the discovery: “It’s extraordinary, there are many endangered species and then this one just comes back to us.”
The shy animal is mostly active at night. Brought from North Africa by the Romans, the porcupine has been present in Italy since antiquity and is regularly observed there, including in the streets of Rome.
Residents of Castellar did not expect to see one on their hills. “It’s more than pride, it’s almost a privilege.
Now, when I drive that road, I look, because maybe there’s one porcupine hiding another,” said one resident.
The discovery also delighted Christophe Candet, who works at an animal park in Nice caring for a captive porcupine. He said a wild relative reaching the Alpes-Maritimes suggests the area offers what it needs: “Fairly closed forests with enough food, so fruit, and it can also eat acorns, roots, tree bark.
It really likes tree bark.”
He cautioned against getting too attached to the animal, a female of about a dozen kilograms accustomed to human contact at the park. The rodent’s quills are erectile and stand up, especially when it feels threatened.
“You don’t try to chase it because it may react badly, but it will go about its life quietly and there is no danger,” the specialist advised.
Thanks to the Castellar video, the crested porcupine has been officially recorded in France’s natural heritage.
