Arid lands and their biodiversity are undervalued and often considered an inefficient investment for conservation funding. However, although they may hold relatively low species richness and population densities compared to global biodiversity hotspots, the fauna and flora of these harsh ecosystems are highly adapted and often unique.
The crested porcupine Hystrix cristata, one of North Africa's endemic mammals, is a relatively large rodent (c. 10 kg), but because of its nocturnal habit little is known about its behaviour and distribution across its presumed range. It is categorized as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, but with an unknown population trend. In particular, occurrence data are lacking for Tunisia. Early references suggested the crested porcupine occurs extensively from the north to the southern edge of the Sahara. This reported range covers diverse habitats from Mediterranean conifer forests in northern Tunisia to Saharan steppes in the south. However, the IUCN Red List assessment for the species reports a narrower range, with a declining distribution restricted to the north of the country.
As part of the post-release monitoring of reintroduced large herbivores, camera traps were established in three National Parks in the south of Tunisia; Dghoumes (8,000 ha) and Sidi Toui (6,315 ha) in steppe habitat, and Jbil (7,700 ha) in the desert. The camera traps were placed at a spacing of c. 1.5 km along visible animal trails, at knee-height, and set to take three photographs at each trigger. The intervals between successive triggers were set to the lowest value allowed by the camera model (0.6–5.0 seconds). In a total camera-trapping effort of 20,382 days during April 2018–March 2022 in Dghoumes National Park, and 10,383 days during October 2020–March 2022 in Sidi Toui National Park, there were 39 and 160 detections of crested porcupines, respectively. In 14,398 camera-trap days during April 2019–October 2021 in Jbil National Park, the species was not recorded.
Our findings thus concur with the geographical range reported for the crested porcupine in Tunisia in the 20th century, and indicate that the species Red List account requires updating.
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