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 […]
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. The animal exists in
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
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
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
What does the Common Hippo eat? Common hippos are mostly grazers, and preferences are grasses such as Bothriochloa sp. , Bracharia decumbens, Chloris gayana, Cynodon dactylon, Heteropogoncontortus, Hyparrhenia flipendula, Sporobolus pyrimidialis and Themedatriandra. In St Lucia, KwaZulu–Natal, Common Hippos eat fairly large quantities of Water Lilies –Nymphaea cerulean and the submerged macrophytes – Ruppia cirrhosa
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
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
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
Common Hippos are endemic to Africa, ranging widely over most of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Gambia in the west to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia in the east, and south to KwaZulu–Natal in NE. South Africa, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and the Kunene R. in Namibia. They are restricted to appropriate areas, e.g.meadows with