Rhinoceroses are large-bodied, pachydermatous animals, endowed with one or two nasal horns consisting of aggregations of keratin fibers. The skin consists of a heavily keratinized and pigmented epidermis (about 1 mm thick) and a dense dermis (about 18-20 mm thick) composed of pure collagen fibers. A covering of very sparse hairs is found in some individuals, especially when young.
Diceros is a polytypic genus, represented by a single extant species, the Black Rhinoceros – Diceros bicornis . This species once was widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, from Niger R. to the west in Somalia to the northeast and to the south in South Africa. It was never found in the Congolese rainforests.
White Rhino – Ceratotherium simum There are several theories to explain the origin of the name ‘white .from the Afrikaans ‘wyd’ or Dutch ‘wijd’ (meaning wide) not a color, as they are not white at all. There are the folds of skin near the top of the forelimbs, and in the flank where the upper part of each hindlimb joins the body. The skin color is gray but is modified by the earth color used for the sketches.
Although poaching is a potential threat to rhinos, no incidents of poaching have been reported since the 1990s due to effective law enforcement by the Park Authority and initiatives such as the Protection Unit and Monitoring of Rhinoceroses (RMPU) and the Coastal Patrol. The immediate threats to the Javan rhino population come from reduced genetic diversity and natural disasters.
The main threat to the population of the white rhinos is illegal hunting (poaching) to fuel the illegal international trade in rhinos. It is estimated that around 95% of rhino horn is currently sourced from Africa for illegal end markets in Southeast Asia. Rhinoceros horn has traditionally had two main uses: use in Chinese medicine and ornamental use.
In southern Africa, White Rhinos are typically associated with drier forms of savanna woodland, with mean annual rainfall under750 mm. In Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park they favor thornveld dominated by Acacia spp. , but in Kruger N. P. they have settled abundantly in broadleaf savanna on granitic soils where Combretum spp . predominate. They have never been recorded in the treeless grasslands of the Highveld and inland KwaZulu-Natal.
Hunting and poaching Hunting by European settlers was the main cause of the decline of rhino populations in Africa in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Reports of five or six rhinos being killed in one day by single hunting, for food, or just for fun, were common. By the 1890s, southern white rhino numbers had declined from no more than 100, and by the 1960s to fewer than individuals and 70,000 northern white rhinos to about 2000 individuals.
Black rhinos consume mainly woody plants and grasses. The grass is generally only eaten when looking for new low-growth but soft grass leaves are deliberately harvested occasionally and may constitute more than 10% of the rainy season diet. A wide range of ingested during a foraging year, typically 90% of the diet consists of fewer than 20 species.
The last two surviving Northern White Rhino females in the wild were translocated from a Zoo in the Czech Republic. As these ex-Zoo animals have not yet been bred in the wild, under RedList rules, they cannot be included in the wild population for this Red List assessment. The largest private White Rhino subpopulation that currently conserves over 1,700 White Rhinos is semi-wild.
Since the white rhino evolved from the black rhino, they have a similar appearance. The biggest difference among the black and white rhinos is in the shape of the neck and the mouth. White rhinos have broad, flat lips 20 cm wide for grazing and the head cannot be lifted above the back. The upward swivel of the head is prevented by the first neck vertebra which has an elongated upper anterior end that interlocks with the skull bone.
