This is the bizarre moment two spiky porcupines scurry across a city street, prompting fears they had broken loose from a nearby zoo.
The animals were seen in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, close to Hongshan Forest Zoo.
Footage shared online on 29th October shows the two porcupines trotting along a road and running across four lanes as cars pass nearby.
Witnesses and social media users were baffled by the rare sight and began speculating that the porcupines might have escaped from the nearby zoo.
However, zoo staff denied the claims, saying. “It has nothing to do with us, we don’t know where they came from.”
Local reports noted that last summer (2024), the zoo had released several young porcupines back into the wild to help boost their natural population and the duo likely belongs to that group.
Officials advised the public to call the police if they see wild animals in urban areas.
A spokesperson from the Nanjing Wildlife Rescue Centre added that the animals were likely still nearby. Explaining that porcupines move quickly and usually come out only at night, hiding in vegetation during the day.
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