Hystrix brachyura
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. Three subspecies are extant in South and Southeast Asia. The Malayan porcupine is a large and stout-bodied rodent covered with quills, which are sharp, rigid structures. The quills are modified hairs. Those on their upper body parts are rough with black with white or yellow stripes. The young's soft quills become hard as they enter adulthood. The porcupine has short, stocky legs covered in brown hairs; there are four claws on the front and five on the hind legs. Both front and hind paws have smooth soles. The head and body are around 56–74 cm long and the tail is about 6–11 cm. The animal weighs around 10–18 kg.
The Malayan porcupine ranges from Nepal through north-east India (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland), to Bangladesh, central and southern China (Xizang, Hainan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Fujian, Jianxi, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu), throughout Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia... Wikipedia →
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Malaysia · 2023
© Daan Drukker · XC959722 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 China |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yangon Zoological Gardens | 🇲🇲 Myanmar (Burma) | |
| 2 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Ningbo Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Khao Kheow Open Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Bratislava Zoo | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 6 | Chimelong Safari Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 7 | 西霞口神雕山野生動物世界 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 8 | Shanghai Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Shenzhen Safari Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 10 | Kemaman Zoo & Recreation Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 11 | Nanning Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 12 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 13 | National Zoo of Malaysia | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 14 | Kunming Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 15 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 16 | Gembira Loka Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 17 | Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 18 | Asahiyama Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 19 | Green World Ecological Farm | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 20 | Langkawi Nature Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 21 | Farm in the City | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 22 | Johor Zoo | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 23 | Langkawi Wildlife Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 24 | Ubon Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan Porcupine sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 4th most-seen of the 11 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan Porcupine in Hong Kong on a given day, against about 10% in February, April–May and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Hong Kong's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 25 mm in December.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malayan Porcupine sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Hong Kong, in our data
Hong Kong is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Malayan Porcupine sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malayan Porcupine is recorded against all the mammals logged in Hong Kong (128 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
