BLACK RHINO - DICEROS BICORNIS
Scientific Name and Origin
Diceros bicornisDicero from the Greek "di", meaning "two" and "ceros", meaning "horn" and "bicornis" from the Latin "bi", meaning "two" and "cornis", meaning "horn."
IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered CITES: Appendix I
(Source: www.rhinoresourcecenter.com The world's largest Rhino Information Website)
The Black Rhinoceros is a herbivorous browser that belongs to the order of the Perissodactyla. It's one of the two species of Rhinos native to Africa and it's current range includes Southern and Eastern areas of Africa. There are about 3,610 Black Rhino still left in the wild, but it has been estimated that there were about 70,000 in the late 1960s. The Black Rhino has seen the most drastic decline of all rhino species, because of poaching and habitat loss. But due to conservation efforts numbers are stabilising and slowly rising, although tremendous effort is still needed to secure the future for the Black Rhino. There are four subspecies of Black Rhino, but the West African Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) is tentatively declared extinct.
Black Rhino Facts
General informationWeight: 800 - 1,350 kg (1,750 - 3,000 lbs)
Height (at shoulder): 1,4 - 1,7 m (4,5 - 5,5 ft)
Length (head and body): 3,0 - 3,8 m (10 - 12,5 ft)
Anterior Horn length: 0,5 - 1,3 m (1 ft; 8 in - 4 ft; 4 in)
Posterior Horn length: 0,02 - 0,55 m (1 - 22 in)
Lifespan in wild: 30 to 40 years
Lifespan in captivity: 35 years. The oldest recorded animal lived 44 years 9 months in a zoo.
Characterisitcs: pointed hooked upper lip (prehensile lip)
Black Rhino Distribution
Pre 20th century numbers: several hundred thousand.
Current numbers in wild: 3,610
Current numbers in captivity: At the end of 2004, there were 277 black rhinos in captivity. Through the past 200 years (until 1998), there have been 775 animals recorded in zoos, of which 292 were born in captivity
Habitat: grasslands, savannahs and tropical bushland.
Historic Natural Range: Southern and Eastern Africa (from Namibia, through Zambia up to Ethiopia, and all countries to the East) and in a East to west running belt from Ethiopia to Guinea (Southern edge of Sahara)
Current Range: In several National Parks primarily located in Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & Kenya.
Black Rhino Diet
Black Rhinos are browsers and primarily feed on leafy plants, branches & shoots
Black Rhinos are known to eat up to 220 different species of plant.
Black Rhinos can live up to 5 days without water.
Common Names
Black Rhinoceros: The term black was probably chosen to distinguish it from the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), although both species are not distinguishable by colour.
Hook-Lipped Rhinoceros: The narrow upper lip of the Black Rhino is adapted to feeding from trees and bushes and is perfect for ripping of leaves.
Prehensile-Lipped Rhinoceros: Refers to the same characteristic hooked-upper lip.
SUB SPECIES
(Source: African Rhinoceroses: a Continental Overview Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan - African Rhino - Compiled by Richard Emslie and Martin Brooks - IUCN/SSC), states the following:
There are five species of rhinoceros: three in Asia and two in Africa. The two African species are the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). The black rhino is principally a browser, using its prehensile upper lip to grasp stems, branches, twigs and leaves, while the white rhino is a grazer and prefers more open grassland and savannah habitats. Because of their recognisably different mouthparts, the black rhino is sometimes referred to as the hook-lipped rhino and the white rhino as the square-lipped rhino. Both species are grey, the white rhino having apparently derived its name from a variation of the early Cape Dutch word wijdt meaning wide.
Brief popular descriptions of the behaviour, habitats and biology of both species can be found in Mills and Hes (1997) and Estes (1991).
Both species have recognised subspecies, as outlined below:
Black rhino subspecies
Western (Diceros bicornis longipes)
Eastern (Diceros bicornis michaeli)
South-western (Diceros bicornis bicornis)
South-central (Diceros bicornis minor)
White rhino subspecies
Northern (Ceratotherium simum cottoni)
Southern (Ceratotherium simum simum)
Black rhinoceros subspecies
The four recognised black rhino subspecies occur in different areas (figure 2.1). Historically, the boundaries between the subspecies were not 'hard-edged' like the boundary distinguishing the two white rhino subspecies. Despite this, there are major differences between the habitat and climates in the core areas of the subspecies' distributions, and it is likely that each has specific genetic or behavioural adaptations to its environment. For this reason, conservationists sometimes refer to the black rhino subspecies as ecotypes, but in this Action Plan the term subspecies is used.
Western black rhinoceros
(Diceros bicornis longipes)
This is the rarest and most endangered subspecies of black rhino. Once ranging through the savannah zones of centralwest Africa, only a few scattered animals now remain in northern Cameroon. A few western black rhinos may remain in Chad, although this is unlikely, and is yet to be confirmed. Numbers continue to decline and the subspecies is threatened with extinction in the near future. Most of the remaining animals appear to live in small groups that are widely scattered and may not be in breeding contact.
Eastern black rhinoceros
(Diceros bicornis michaeli)
This subspecies has longer, more slender and more curved horns than the two southern subspecies, and is reputedly more aggressive. Some eastern black rhinos have very distinctive skin ridges on their sides giving them a "corrugated" appearance. Historically this subspecies was distributed from southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia through Kenya into northern-central Tanzania. Its current stronghold is Kenya. Small numbers are still to be found in Rwanda and Tanzania, but its presence in Ethiopia needs confirmation. One important free-ranging population of this subspecies occurred outside its range in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa but these animals were moved to a private game reserve and are being moved to another national park to allow D.b. bicornis to be introduced into Addo.
South-western black rhinoceros
(Diceros bicornis bicornis)
The original range of this larger, straighter-horned and more arid-adapted subspecies included Namibia, southern Angola, western Botswana and south-western South Africa. Significant populations have remained in the desert and arid savannah areas of Namibia, which is today the stronghold for this species. In recent years some small populations have been re-established elsewhere in Namibia and in the south-western part of South Africa. A few animals may still exist in Angola.
South-central black rhinoceros
(Diceros bicornis minor)
This is the most numerous of the black rhino subspecies, and occurred historically from western and southern Tanzania through Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique to the northern and eastern parts of South Africa. It also probably occurred in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), northern Angola, and eastern Botswana. Today, its stronghold is South Africa and to a lesser extent Zimbabwe, with smaller numbers remaining in Swaziland, southern Tanzania and Mozambique. The south-central black rhino is now believed to be nationally extinct in Botswana, Zambia, and possibly also Angola (although, information is inadequate from this country because of the civil war).
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