Black Rhinoceros

(Diceros bicornis)

Status:  This Rhino is extinct in Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and many more countries.

Description:  This rhino’s height ranges from 3 and a half-foot to 6 and a half-foot.  Its weight is from 2,240lb to 5,000lb.  The rhino’s legs are short and sturdy.  They have excellent hearing and smell, but very poor eyesight.  Their grey skin is rough and coarse, and their ears are wide.  They have bristles on their ears and tail.  They are herbivores, so they only eat grass and leaves, not meat.

Behaviour:  The black rhinoceros is usually calm, but when they are under threat, they will pinpoint the threat, and charge.  Also, when the male rhino’s are under threat, they will make snorting noises to scare away intruders.  Male rhino’s also snort to attract the female’s attention.

Environment:  The rhino’s live in grasslands, shrubby areas and dense forests.  The location of most black rhinos is Africa and South Asia.  Female rhino’s mostly roam together, and males roam alone.  Families roam together.  A female rhino is pregnant for eight to sixteen months before she gives birth to her offspring.  The babies stay with their mothers until they are around two and a half years old.  When the second offspring is born, the first is chased away by the mother temporarily, until the offspring is older.

Threats:  Poachers, for their gigantic horns hunt the rhinoceros’s.  One horn can cost between $16,500 and $22,000.  People want their horns to use them in medical potions.  In Cameroon, there are less than fifty rhinos left.

Protections:  The main protection for the black rhinos is the WWF Organisation.  Thanks to the WWF, the black rhinos population in Kenya has increased by 20%.  People were told not to hunt black rhinos.

by: Christine and Alan