The crested porcupine inhabits Italy, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa from sea level up to 2,550 m.
The crested porcupine is found in Italy, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. In the Mediterranean, it is known from mainland Italy and the islands of Sicily, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. There are also records from Libya and along the Egyptian coast. It can be found along the Mediterranean coast of Africa to northern Zaire and Tanzania.
It has been recorded from sea level to 2,550 meters in Moroccan Anti Atlas.
Some scientists assert that the porcupine was introduced to Italy by the Romans as a game animal, but fossil and subfossil remains suggest it was possibly present in Europe in the Upper Pleistocene.
The crested porcupine has been extinct in heavily-settled parts of Uganda since the 1970’s and is believed to have recently gone extinct in the Balkans. It may have been extirpated in Egypt since 1980.
• Image | ©️ Amy the Nurse, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Amori & Angelici, 1999; Amori & De Smet, 2016; McPhee, 2003; Osborn, D. J. & Helmy, I., 1980; The Wikimedia Foundation, 2020b)
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