The black rhinoceros is one of the world’s largest land mammals, weighing in at up to 3,000 pounds and sporting two distinctive horns that give it a brownish-gray hue.
Black rhinoceroses are threatened by poaching and habitat degradation and fragmentation. Although protected in many African countries, their numbers have significantly declined over the years.
Habitat
Black Rhinos live in diverse habitats, from savannahs and woodlands to deserts and wetlands. As vegetarians, these rhinos feed on grasses, bushes, trees as well as fruits and leaves from various locations they inhabit.
They tend to be solitary creatures, though they may occasionally interact with one or more other rhinos. Their bodies have been highly adapted for survival in the wild, featuring numerous features that help ensure their continued existence.
Tank-shaped bodies feature thick skin and thick bodies. Their front horn of compressed keratin grows from an area of bone in their skull core and may stretch up to 50 centimetres long; an additional smaller horn may develop as well.
These horns can be used for defense, intimidation, and breaking branches during feeding. Although not known to bite humans or other animals, these animals have been known to become aggressive and charge without apparent cause.
The Black Rhino population is in steep decline and their extinction remains at risk if unregulated poaching persists. WWF is working closely with government agencies and conservation organizations to address threats such as habitat loss and illegal trade that threaten this species.
Black Rhinos inhabit large home ranges that span hundreds of square kilometers. They find food and water abundantly. Sometimes sharing their home range with other rhinos, they might use similar wallows, water holes, or mud-wallows.
A black rhino’s home range size can be determined by its ability to find suitable places to graze. A rhino may select its site based on water availability or temperature; when temperatures get hotter, however, its activity level decreases and it prefers sheltering in shade or cooling off with waterhole splashes during hotter periods of the day.
Black rhinos are remarkable survivors, yet their habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate. Between 1970 and 1992, home range sizes shrank 96%; as a result they are critically endangered now. While Black Rhinos may be on their way back, ongoing conservation efforts must remain effective to ensure long-term survival of this species.
Diet
Black Rhinos are heavy browsers, feeding on an assortment of leafy plants, branches, shoots, thorny wood bushes and fruit as well as grasses as an additional protein source.
These herbivores require high caloric intake to support their enormous body sizes, so they must consume up to 54 kilograms of vegetation daily – which includes up to 220 different leaves, twigs and branches depending on weather and seasons.
The Black Rhino’s digestive system has been specifically tailored to handle diets high in cellulose. They can digest large quantities of branches and leaves in short order.
Black Rhinos are essential members of their habitats due to their habit of eating woody plants; thus allowing grasses to flourish and providing sustenance for other animals.
Rhinos use urine sprays, used by males as scent markers in marking their territory or females during oestrus, as a form of communication even when they cannot see each other clearly. Their frequencies allow them to communicate well with other rhinos as well as elephants despite visual communication challenges.
Black rhinoceroses rely heavily on scent signals for communication as they lack eyes and ears that function normally. Furthermore, their scent glands release semiochemical compounds which provide information about social status, mood and sexual inclinations.
Rhinos can easily recognize one another by smelling their dung, helping them maintain personal space and avoid other rhinos invading their territory.
Time of year plays an integral part in a rhino’s diet, as this species will feed more during rainy season when there is plenty of greenery for it to consume. This allows these creatures to conserve energy and remain healthy by not overeating plant-based diet during dry periods.
Social Structure
Black rhinoceroses tend to be solitary creatures, though they do engage in social interactions within their habitats. They share home ranges and some females may engage in philopatry with other adult females in order to breed together; members of their species can easily locate each other by listening for sounds they emit that help communicate among themselves.
Black Rhinos can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, primarily in grasslands, savannahs and tropical bush lands (Figure 1). Their unique prehensile upper lip allows them to grasp branches and leaves easily; additionally they’re exceptionally strong animals living for 35-40 years in the wild.
Males begin competing for social and breeding dominance from 8-10 years of age, often covering home ranges of multiple adult females [28]. Females may engage in female-based philopatry by sharing part of their home ranges with adult female offspring from different sexes [29,30].
Breeding activity occurs year-round, though mating seasons vary according to location. A single baby is born after 15 months gestation and kept hidden until one week old when it starts foraging on its own.
In the wild, they are susceptible to habitat changes and competition from other species, as well as poaching; both factors have led to a dramatic decrease in numbers since 1960.
Yemen and other Persian Gulf region countries have banned the use of horn for dagger handles to reduce poaching. Islamic leaders have banned this practice as an effort to curb poaching.
However, poaching continues, leading to an overall decrease in Black Rhinos populations worldwide. It is estimated that only about 4800 of these animals remain wild. Therefore, conservation efforts must continue in order to sustain healthy populations; many protected areas have already been created across Africa and elsewhere to safeguard these endangered animals.
Breeding
The Black Rhino is a large, heavy animal that can reach lengths between 3.3-3.6 metres (11.8 feet). Primarily grazer, its two horns on its head serve both defensive and intimidating purposes, with one up to 140 centimetres long being used for intimidation while its opposite horn (up to half meter long) assists it when digging roots and breaking branches when feeding.
Eat grass and twigs with their upper lips pointed downward, stripping branches of leafy material by using their two-phase chewing mechanism that features both cutting ectolophs on upper molar teeth and grinding lophs near their tongues to facilitate stripping them of leaves. In times of drought they can survive up to 120 hours without water; during hot weather they wallow in mud to cool off while staying dry.
Black rhinoceroses once roamed much of Eastern Africa, including South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia. Today they are predominantly found in Kenya and Tanzania but remain critically endangered due to poaching and black-market trafficking of rhino horns.
There are three subspecies of Black Rhinos that differ in their distribution and adaptations to various habitats. Of these sub-species, South-central rhinoceros is by far the most widespread; inhabiting wide ranging savannas and woodlands from Kenya to Namibia.
Black Rhinos have recently been genetically bred in zoos to more closely resemble their wild counterparts, as part of an effort known as reintroductions that can help restore local populations where rhinos had gone extinct, increase population numbers or add genetic diversity within existing ones.
The Black Rhino is an endangered species largely restricted to eastern and southern Africa, where conservation efforts have allowed it to survive and even flourish. While still vulnerable to poaching and black market trafficking, their numbers have grown as a result of protection measures like protected reserves or using anti-poaching dogs.
WWF works closely with national and international NGOs to implement strategies that protect rhinos and their habitat, such as anti-poaching efforts. We also assist reintroduction efforts and train rhino field experts.