This bull rhino glances around the area before departing for the grasslands. Being an herbivore, he looks forward to eating the high grasses and tasty bushes that grow in great quantities in that area.
Rhinos never seem to be in a hurry unless their calves are threatened by alpha predators such as lions or clans of hyenas. The dominant male or bull has no real predator except for man. Rhinos are currently on the endangered species list because of poachers who hunt them for their horns which they sell for medicinal or aphrodisiacal purposes.
What are rhinos?
Rhinos may look like prehistoric creatures, and they do date back millions of years to the Miocene era, but they are also mammals like us. There are two species of African rhinos, the white rhino and black rhino, and each is distinct in its own way. The white, or square-lipped, rhino derives its name from the Dutch word “weit,” meaning wide. It is actually gray in color and has a hump on its neck and a long face. The black, or hooked-lipped, rhino has a thick, hairless gray hide. Both rhinos have two horns.
Some rhinos are more introverted than others.
Rhinos live in home ranges that can sometimes overlap with each other, and their feeding grounds, wallows, and water holes may be shared. The black rhino is usually solitary, while the white rhino tends to be more social.
They can’t see very well.
Rhinos have poor eyesight, which may explain why they will sometimes charge for no reason. However, their sense of smell and hearing are very good.
Rhinos tend to live where they like to eat.
The black rhino is a browser. Its triangular-shaped upper lip, which ends in a grasping point, is used to eat a large variety of vegetation—including leaves; buds; and shoots of plants, bushes, and trees. It can be found in various habitats that have dense, woody vegetation. The white rhino lives in savannas, which have water holes, mud wallows, shade trees, and the grasses they graze on.
Challenges
Rhinos have become victims of organized crime.
In the wild, the adult black or white rhino has no predators except for humans. Rhinos are hunted and killed for their horns. The major demand for rhino horn is in Asia, where it is used in ornamental carvings and traditional medicine. Rhino horn is touted as a cure for hangovers, cancer, and impotence. Their horns are not true horns; they are actually made of keratin—the same material that makes up our hair and nails. Truly, rhino horn is as effective at curing cancer as chewing on your fingernails.
Habitat loss is also a major threat to rhinos.
As human populations rise and cities grow, logging, agriculture, roads, and settlements destroy rhino habitats.
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