FOOD HABITS OF THE INDIAN CRESTED PORCUPINE (HYSTRIX INDICA) IN FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN

This study examines the food habits of the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. Porcupine is an important vertebrate pest in Pakistan’s agriculture, but there is little knowledge of food habits of this pest. During the present study, twenty H. indica were killed to examine their stomach contents and also collected sixty fecal pellets. Stomach contents and fecal pellets had correlation with feeding sites, plant material and the nature of food material consumed from both cultivated and non cultivated lands. The stomach contents and fecal pallets revealed that twenty seven species of plants were consumed by the porcupine as food items in Faisalabad. Diet of porcupine varied and comprised of vegetable matter. Tuber, roots, leaves, stems and spike of agricultural crops like Triticum aestivum, Zea mays, Saccharum officinarum, Hordeum vulgare, Brassica oleracea, Brassica campestris, Allium cepa were eaten extensively. It was observed that H. indica is the serious pest of agricultural crops and trees of the area.