How a rescued Wild Porcupine became a Sri Lankan Little Girl’s Best Friend

The heartwarming viral video of a little girl walking through a paddy field with a porcupine and a cat has captured millions of hearts around the world. While the footage was widely shared online with false claims that it was filmed in Bangladesh, it was in fact recorded in Sri Lanka. The little girl in the video is seven-year-old Shwetha Punsandi from Polonnaruwa. According to her family, Shwetha has always had a deep affection for animals and has formed a unique bond with them. Her mother says that although the family lives a simple life, they are surrounded by nature, allowing Shwetha to grow up closely connected to wildlife. She believes animals can communicate in their own way and says her daughter has learned to understand and connect with them. The friendship with the porcupine began after the family discovered the animal injured near their home. Her mother recalled that they found the porcupine hiding among a pile of metal sheets after hearing dogs barking. The animal appeared to have an injured leg, and the family treated it using the medicine they had available at home for several days until it recovered. After recovering, the porcupine returned to the wild but continued to visit the family regularly. It gradually became comfortable around Shwetha, and over time the pair developed the close bond seen in the now-viral video. The family does not keep the porcupine in captivity, allowing it to roam freely in the wild and return on its own. Newswire previously confirmed that the video was filmed in Sri Lanka after claims circulated online identifying it as being from Bangladesh. The earliest known upload was traced to a Sri Lankan Facebook account based in Polonnaruwa, with the original caption written in Sinhala. The touching friendship between Shwetha, the wild porcupine and the family’s cat has since been viewed by millions worldwide, with many describing it as a real-life Disney moment. (Newswire)