Nine-month-old prehensile-tailed porcupine, Mocha, recently made her home in My Big Backyard and is turning heads with her captivating snoot and unique tail. Prehensile-tailed porcupines are native to the forests of Central and South America, making their homes high up in the treetops. True to their name, prehensile-tailed porcupines have a prehensile tail, which means they can grasp tree branches and hang solely by their muscular tail.
Mocha was given her name by her keepers because of her mocha-colored quills and to promote sustainable coffee. Using sustainable coffee helps protect the native habitat of the prehensile-tailed porcupine.
Mocha is still young, but she has already developed a sweet disposition and gently takes food from her keepers during training sessions. She is curious, smart, eager and already excels in husbandry behaviors such as target training, crate training and scale training. Mocha also lets her keepers touch her, which is foundational as they develop a trusting relationship and expand her training to include regular health checks in the future.
Support your favorites with digital, traditional, gift package, and group adoptions. Gifting any adopt choice is available by simply completing the gift area at checkout.
Foster any animal and you’ll help Cheyenne Mountain Zoo continue to provide outstanding care. Whether given as a gift or used to celebrate a favorite species, symbolic adoptions come with a variety of benefits only adoptive parents can enjoy.
Ways to adopt your favorites:
- Digital Adoption – ($35) choose any Zoo animal from the full list provided below.
- Group Adoption – ($35+) pick a herd, chatter or family for your classroom or group, offered for certain featured animals below.
- Traditional Adoption – ($50+) choose any Zoo animal from the full list provided below.
- Wild Adopt Gift Packages – ($65) includes a cuddly plush, offered for many featured animals below.
- Gift any Adoption – ($35+) gifting any adoption is offered during check-out.