How much do you know about the important rhino?
These are some of Africa's most precious possessions as we have so few left.
How much do you know about the Rhinoceros?
Read more in our Rhino Blog.
Male rhinos are called 'bulls' and females are called 'cows'. Their young are ‘calves’.
There are in fact 5 species of rhino in this amazing world we live in!
These include the well known 2 African rhino species - black and white rhinos.
The remaining three are Asian rhino species, which include greater one–horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
A rhino's horn is made up of keratin - the same protein which forms the basis of our hair and nails.
The Javan and greater one-horned rhinos only have one horn, whereas all the other rhino species have two horns.
Their horns grow continuously during their lifetime – the white rhino's horn can grow 7cm every year – and the record length is 150cm long!
Sadly these amazing features are the reason for the rhino's extinction. The rhino has been poached for many, many years and is now close to extinction because of its horns. These days, most rhinos are under 24-hour surveillance to protect them against poachers.
Rhinos use a variety of methods to communicate with each other.
In confrontations, a rhino will growl and make 'trumpet calls'.
Black rhinos snort when they’re angry, make a sneeze-like calls as an alarm, scream if they’re scared and ‘mmwonk' when relaxed.
They also communicate through their poo and urine.
When rhino poo in the same place as other rhinos – an area known as a latrine – they can smell the poo and urine of other individuals, and know who's been in the area.
The sad truth is we only have about 26 274 rhinos in total IN THE WHOLE WORLD!
We need to all be doing our little bit to support our rhino guardians and antipoaching units to prevent losing any more of the beautiful creatures!
We have partnered with some fantastic anti-poaching units to do our part!
Read more about that HERE.
The shapes of their mouths!
The difference originates from the different food preferences each rhino has.
White rhinos are grazers so flat and broad lips. They work as “lawnmowers” with strong muscles used to grip and tear the grass for more effective feeding.
Black rhinos feed on leaves and branches. Their lips shape is pointed to be able to grab hold of the trees.