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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
black
rhinoceros |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Perissodactyla |
| FAMILY: |
Rhinocerotidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Diceros
(two horns) bicornis (two horn) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Large
stocky animal, naturally gray in color but will
often take on the color of the local soil; two facial
horns and a prehensile lip |
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| SIZE: |
1.5-1.9
m (5-6 ft.) tall at shoulder; 3.1- 3.7 m long (10-12
ft.) |
|
| WEIGHT: |
454-1362
kg (1,000-3,000 lb.) |
| FEMALE |
Females
are smaller |
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| DIET: |
Herbivore
that browses on bushes, leaves, and seedlings |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
|
| MALE |
7-9
years |
| FEMALE |
4-6
years |
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| RANGE: |
Isolated
areas of central and southern Africa |
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| HABITAT: |
Bushy
plains, rugged hills, and scrub lands |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Less
than 2,550 |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
No
data |
| CITES |
No
data |
| USFWS |
Endangered |
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| 1. |
A
rhino's horn is not a true horn that is attached
to the skull. It grows from the skin and is made
up of keratin fibers, the same material found in
hair and nails. |
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| 2. |
Black
rhinos have a prehensile lip that is used much like
a finger to select and pick the leaves and twigs
they prefer. |
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| 3. |
Black
rhinos travel alone except while breeding or raising
offspring. Juveniles remain with the mother until
they are completely weaned just before a new baby
is born. |
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Rhinos
are heavy browsers that hinder woody plants from
dominating their habitat. This is important because
it allows grasses to grow which provide food for
many other animals on the grassy plains. Young
rhinos are occasionally prey items for large carnivores
such as lions and hyenas. People of some cultures
believe that rhino horn contains medicinal properties.
This is most likely not true but is one of the
primary reasons rhinos are poached. There are
fewer than 2,550 black rhinos alive today.
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| |
|
|
| Estes,
Richard D. The Safari Companion. Post Mills,
Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 1993. |
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| Martin,
Esmond and Chryssee Bradley. Run Rhino Run.
London: Chatto and Windus, 1982. |
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|
Schenkel
R. and L. Schenkel-Halliger. Mammalia depicta:
Ecology and Behavior of the Black Rhinoceros.
Berlin: Verlag, Paul, and Parey, 1969.
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