Rhinoceros Rhino- White & Black facts & info
Square-lipped (White) and Hook-Lipped (Black) rhino are the two dominant species of rhinocerous found in Southern Africa.
More easily seen are the white rhino. The rhino is prized for it’s horn. Not a true horn, it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support. Used in traditional medicine and ornamental carvings there are five species remaining in the world today, all of which are endangered.
African Square-lipped ( White) Rhino
The white or square-lipped rhino is one of two rhino species in Southern Africa where they number about 7000
The white rhino’s name derives from the Dutch “weit” ( Afrikaans “weid”) meaning wide, a reference to its wide, square muzzle adapted for grazing on grasses
The white rhino, which is actually gray, has a pronounced hump on the neck and a long face.
Square-lipped rhinos live in savannas with water holes, bushveld, wallows and shade trees
Although the Square-lipped rhinoceroses is a placid animal, mothers fiercely protect their offspring
African Hook-Lipped (Black) Rhino
Is a browser, with a triangular-shaped upper lip ending in a mobile grasping point. It eats a large variety of vegetation, including leaves, buds and shoots of plants, bushes and trees.
Although smaller then the the white rhino, it is more dangerous
The black, or hooked-lipped, rhino, along with all other rhino species, is an odd-toed ungulate (three toes on each foot). It has a thick, hairless, gray hide. Both the black and white rhino have two horns, the longer of which sits at the front of the nose.
The skin of the rhinoceros is extremely thick, nearly hairless in most species, and deeply folded in some. The legs are stout and short and end in broad feet, each with three toes
Most live near water and like to wallow in mud; all swim well. They have poor vision but good hearing and a good sense of smell
Mostly solitary animals, they feed by night and in the early morning and evening; they rest in shade during the heat of the day.
They are often accompanied by small tickbirds (oxpeckers) that feed on parasites in their skin and, with their cries, alert them to danger