Scientific name: Hystrix cristata
Family name: Hystricidae
Classification: Mammal
IUCN status: Least Concern
Lifespan: 15-20years
Weight: 13 – 27kg
Length: 60 – 83cm
Top speed: 30mph
Diet: Herbivore: bark, roots, tubers, rhizomes, bulbs, fallen fruits and cultivated crops, complementing their diet with insects and small vertebrates.
Habitat: forests, rocky and mountainous areas, croplands and sandhill deserts.
Range: Italy, Sicily and the Mediterranean coast of Africa up to northern Zaire and Tanzania.