Black Rhino
CONSERVATION STATUS:
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Black Rhino Facts
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Diceros bicornis
LIFE SPAN:
35-50 years
SIZE:
WEIGHT:
1800-3100 pounds
DIET:
Rhinos are herbivores, and they eat branches, fruit, leafy plants, branches, and thorny wood bushes
PReDATORS:
Lions will prey on baby rhinos, but humans are the main predators to black rhinos.Â
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Female black rhinos are smaller than the male black rhino, but both male and female black rhinos both have two horns. Black rhinos have a distinctive hooked lip, unlike the white rhino. The horns are made of keratin, the same substance as fingernails. Rhinos have thick skin that helps protect them from thorns. They also have wide-rotating ears that can easily detect sounds in the savannah. Finally, their sense of smell is superb in sensing predators.
BEHAVIOR:
The word rhinoceros means nose horn. Black rhinos are solitary and are not solitary when very young or when a relationship. A calf, or baby rhino, will stay with its mother for 2 to 4 years before being abandoned. If they do live in groups, a group of rhinos is called a crash. They are not territorial and will many times cross into other rhino’s territories. Their territory changes with food and water. If rhinos are aggravated or scared, they become very aggressive and will charge their suspected predators.Â
THREATS:
Although lions are known to attack rhino calves, humans are the main threat to the rhino population. Poachers will hunt black rhinos for their horns. Even though their horns are made out of fingernail-material, poachers believe that the horns are valuable. This ivory-trade has severely hurt the rhino population, as they are now critically endangered.
How can you Help?
Click here for Save The Rhino Website
More education and facts about the Black Rhino, White Rhino and others.
Learn all you can about rhinos and share with others.
Never buy rhino horn products! They are basically fingernails.
Donate to Rhino Conservation or anti-poaching endeavors. Support heavy penalties for poaching.
