Porcupettes Management at Wildlife Rescue Centers and Liberation into the Wild: Implications for Post-Liberation Success

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Wildlife rescue centers play a key role for crested porcupine rescue and conservation. There is a lack of guidelines for management and liberation, which is a crucial issue, especially for porcupettes to ensure a suitable behavioral development for wildlife. In this work, preliminary data on the post-liberation behavior and survival of rescued porcupines under different management and liberation strategies were collected, providing the first useful knowledge base and fulfilling the urgency to develop official guidelines. ABSTRACT: The crested porcupine is a frequent host species in wildlife rescue centers and no guidelines for its management, liberation and post-liberation monitoring are yet available. Here, captive-grown porcupines’ behavior and survival in the wild after liberation were investigated and described for the first time. Management strategies adopted at the centers could affect porcupine adaptation to the natural environment. The detention of porcupettes in single cages and fed only human-supplied food may not ensure ethological welfare, nor a suitable behavioral development compatible with wildlife. The liberation of captive-grown porcupines should also be carefully planned to promote and increase the possibility of post-liberation success.