Rhinocerous - Ceratotherium simum
During my stay at Welgevonden I had the opportunity to experience a “rhino round up”. The reserve had a few too many male rhinos so some of them had to go. They were darted and once they were down the vet took tissues samples for DNA analysis as well as placed a microchip, this is part of a new initiative in South Africa for rhino conservation and is expected to be done to every rhino in the country.
Did You Know?
White rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is the largest of the five species of rhinos and most numerous species of rhinoceros that exists. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species.
A popular theory of the origins of the name "white rhinoceros" is a mistranslation from Dutch to English. The Dutch word "wijd", which means "wide" in English refers to the width of the rhinoceros' mouth (the alternative name for the rhino - square-lipped rhinoceros). So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wijd" for "white" and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with the narrow pointed mouth, was called the black rhinoceros.
Weight in this animal typically ranges from 13,000 to 8,000 lb, with the males being heavier, averaging 5,100 lb while the female has an average of 3,700 lb. On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind the other. These are made of solid keratin, the same material that makes up our hair and fingernails. This differs from the horns of bovids (cattle and their relatives), which are keratin with a bony core, and deer antlers, which are solid bone. The front horn is larger and averages 35 inches in length, reaching as much as 59 inches. Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes.
Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. The white rhinoceros has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal.
White rhinoceroses live in crashes or herds of up to 14 animals (usually mostly female). Sub-adult males will congregate, often in association with an adult female. Most adult bulls are solitary, dominant bulls mark their territory with excrement and urine. The dung is laid in well defined piles and it may have 20 to 30 of these piles to alert passing rhinoceroses that it is his territory.
A popular theory of the origins of the name "white rhinoceros" is a mistranslation from Dutch to English. The Dutch word "wijd", which means "wide" in English refers to the width of the rhinoceros' mouth (the alternative name for the rhino - square-lipped rhinoceros). So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wijd" for "white" and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with the narrow pointed mouth, was called the black rhinoceros.
Weight in this animal typically ranges from 13,000 to 8,000 lb, with the males being heavier, averaging 5,100 lb while the female has an average of 3,700 lb. On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind the other. These are made of solid keratin, the same material that makes up our hair and fingernails. This differs from the horns of bovids (cattle and their relatives), which are keratin with a bony core, and deer antlers, which are solid bone. The front horn is larger and averages 35 inches in length, reaching as much as 59 inches. Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes.
Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. The white rhinoceros has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal.
White rhinoceroses live in crashes or herds of up to 14 animals (usually mostly female). Sub-adult males will congregate, often in association with an adult female. Most adult bulls are solitary, dominant bulls mark their territory with excrement and urine. The dung is laid in well defined piles and it may have 20 to 30 of these piles to alert passing rhinoceroses that it is his territory.