UK woman dances with porcupine not knowing it may suffer from zoochosis


This porcupine at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam caught the attention of a UK woman after it appeared to be dancing.

Filmed on June 13, the enclosed porcupine is seen swaying from side to side as if it is dancing.

Lily, the woman in the video, told Newsflare: "I thought the porcupine was very cute when I first saw it, we thought he was dancing it to get food from people walking by!

"I thought he was dancing for food, but the people on Reddit have informed me that his dancing may be due to zoochosis which is very sad.

"It's a mental condition caused by being in a boring environment, he dances constantly as a way to entertain himself.

"I don't know why zoos don't have stricter regulations to make sure that the environments for the animals are good enough to at least not cause mental illness!

"If I had known at the time I wouldn't have danced with him, but I like to think now that I might have entertained him a bit by joining in."