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There are five species of rhino; three are native to Asia and the remaining
two native to Africa where they live as the white rhino and black rhino. Those
terms are somewhat misleading as the word "white" actually comes from the Dutch
Afrikaans "wyd" referring to the shape of its muzzle whereas the black rhino has a more
pointed puzzle. Both, in fact, are grey in colour! They are the second largest
animal on the continent after the elephant, measuring 11- 15ft long and 5.9 -
6.6ft tall at the shoulder and can live for 50 yrs. The Black Rhino is listed as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as its population has
declined some 97.6% since 1960, although now making a recovery from
its lowest point of just 2,410 rhinos in 1995 from a high of
some 850,000 at the beginning of the 20th century (see distribution
map below).
Today
the Black African rhino can be found in Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia,
South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe as well as Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland and
Zambia where it has been successfully reintroduced. The White Rhino could once be found
across sub-Saharan Africa but today its numbers are down to around
11,000, mostly in South Africa and they have virtually been wiped
out in more northern areas. The White Rhino prefers flat grasslands
whereas the Black Rhino prefers woodlands. Both enjoy waterholes and
are most active at night. The African Rhino is a herbivore. Both
rhinoceros's (from the Greek words - rhino (nose) and
ceros (horn)) are at serious risk from
poaching, with their horns seen, particularly in the east, as having
medicinal qualities as well as ornamental value and this risk has
been exacerbated with the levels of civil unrest across larges
swathes of the African continent since the 1960s.
They are attacking beasts (charge first,
ask questions later) with a horn made not of bone but from the same
material as makes up human hair and nails, keratin, with the largest
horn recorded being just under five feet long. If broken off these
horns re-grow. They live in "crashes" with a gestation period of 15-16 months and the female buffalo normally has
offspring every two years from the age of 4-5yrs. Her young will stay with her until another calf is
born by which time they are usually fully grown and ready to live by
themselves. Female
calves tend to remain in the herd permanently, whilst the males
often leave by the age of four.
African Rhino: Big Five Animals
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African Rhino: African Wildlife Webcam
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