![southern white rhinoceros southern white rhinoceros](https://www.asiliaafrica.com/media/5owlofmt/nwr1.png)
The white rhino will often wallow in mud to cool down. White rhinos are often seen wallowing in mud in order to cool down. In the warmer months, the species becomes more active at dawn and dusk, taking shelter during the hottest part of the day. In a threat display, the rhino lowers its head, tilts its ears backwards and rubs its horn against the ground.ĭuring the winter the white rhino is usually active during the day. Females can also be highly aggressive when defending their young. The species is usually peaceful, but fights over territory can occasionally break out. Females and young rhinos form herds containing up to 14 individuals.ĭominant bulls are territorial, marking their territories with urine and dung, and by scraping their horns against vegetation and on the ground. White Rhino Facts: BehaviorĪdult male white rhinoceroses are usually solitary. The species is often found near a source of water. White rhinoceros habitat includes savanna, woodland and dense forest. The species has also been introduced to Kenya and Zambia. Today, the subspecies is only found in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. The southern white rhinoceros once ranged across southern Africa. The subspecies was last seen in the Garamba National Park in DRC in 2006. Historically, the northern white rhinoceros was found in Uganda, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). If broken, a rhino’s horn will eventually grow back – a process that can take up to three years for a rhino whose horn was removed near the base.īecause rhinos are illegally hunted for their valuable horns, in some parts of Africa conservationists deliberately de-horn the animals, thereby reducing their value to poachers. The rear horn grows to a length of around 56 cm (22 in.). The front horn, the larger of the two, has an average length of 60 cm (25 in), although those of some white rhinos can reach lengths of up to 150 cm (59 in). These are made of keratin – the same natural protein out of which hair and fingernails are made. The white rhino’s most distinctive feature is the two large horns which adorn its snout. White Rhino Horns The horns of this white rhino have been removed by conservationists to protect it from poachers. Its nostrils are set further apart then those of any other land-based animal.
![southern white rhinoceros southern white rhinoceros](https://www.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/southern-white-rhino-g9929ea41c_1280-1.jpg)
The rhino has small eyes, long ears, and a wide, square-shaped mouth. The species is almost completely hairless.
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINOCEROS SKIN
The skin is thick and deeply folded where its limbs join the body. The white rhinoceros has a bulky body with a large head and distinctive humped neck. (The black rhinoceros has pointed, beak-shaped lips.) Despite their names both species are a similar shade of gray! The white rhinoceros has wide, flat lips. The white rhino’s wide, flat lips are the best way of differentiating it from the black rhino – the only other rhino present in Africa – whose lips are pointed. * Afrikaans is a language widely-spoken in southern Africa. This in turn refers to the animal’s wide lips.
![southern white rhinoceros southern white rhinoceros](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b750f9e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x450+0+28/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F52%2F5f%2Fc652d51b40b3a0fed3472cc25578%2Fvirginia-zoo-photo-2.jpg)
The white rhinoceros is gray rather than white – it is thought that the animal’s misleading name comes from the Afrikaans* word ‘weit’ which means ‘wide’. The cameraman in the video below has a close encounter with a group of white rhinos… With the only living male having died on March 19, 2018, the northern white rhinoceros subspecies is now functionally extinct. cottoni).Īt the time of writing, there are only two northern white rhinoceroses left, both of which are female. simum) and the northern white rhinoceros ( C. The white rhino has two subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros ( C. It is one of two species of rhino found in Africa, and one of the five living species of rhino. The white rhinoceros is fourth-largest land mammal in the world only the three species of elephant are larger. Meet The White Rhinoceros: Introduction A female white rhino with her calf. Also known as the ‘odd-toed ungulates’, this group of hoofed mammals also contains the horses and the tapirs.