Approximately a week ago, a tiny porcupine, about a month old, was found wandering alone on the grounds of the Knesset. The Knesset Guard officers who found her saved her from crow attacks and named her Dora.
Dora was transferred her to the Nili and David Jerusalem Bird Research Station of the Society for the Protection of Nature, which is adjacent to the Knesset.
After extensive tests at the wildlife hospital of the Nature and Parks Authority, treatment of the large wound on her back that was apparently caused by the crow attack, and rehabilitation, she was released and returned to the wild.
Yotam Beshen, director of the Jerusalem Bird Research Station said, "We received the call from the Knesset Guard and we didn't think twice and came to pick her up. She was in bad shape with a bleeding injury on her back. We put her in a dark, padded box so she wouldn't become acclimated to humans. We drove her to the wildlife hospital at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem and from there to the veterinary hospital for further treatment. As of today, it seems that the population of porcupines in the urban nature sites in Jerusalem is stable and healthy, but unfortunately in the last year we encountered porcupines in the Kiryat Haleom area that were hit by moving vehicles."
The porcupine arrived at the wildlife hospital of the Nature and Parks Authority weak and dehydrated, and there she was received by Dr. Neely Englister, a veterinarian at the hospital: "Her wounds have almost completely healed, but the biggest challenge for the caregivers was to prevent scarring."
Petzael Ratner, the head therapist at the hospital, stated that after the porcupine's arrival at the hospital and receiving medical treatment, she was fed from a bottle by the therapists. "When we saw that she was licking the milk replacer. We moved it to a plate to reduce the interaction with people and reduce the imprinting. In the last week we exposed her to a variety of foods that are part of her natural diet, especially root vegetables of various kinds, which we see her gnawing."
Amir Laban, manager of the urban nature department at the Society for the Protection of Nature, adds that porcupines - the largest rodent in Asia and the only member of the porcupine family found naturally in Israel - live everywhere in Israel. "The porcupine is so named because of the spurs (long spines) that cover its body. Its length is about 60-70 centimeters, and in exceptional cases it can reach a length of one meter or more. The weight of an adult male is about 17 kilograms, its tail is short and the length of its back spines is about 30 centimeters."