The white rhino is one of the largest land mammals. Its size is second only to the Savannah elephant. The white rhino owes its name not to the color, but to the difficulties of translation.
External features
The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is the second largest land animal. The average weight of an adult is 2-2.5 tons, there are old males weighing up to 5 tons. At the withers, the rhinoceros reaches 2 meters, the body length is about 4 meters.
It is believed that the name "White Rhino" comes from the Boer wijde, which means wide. When borrowing, the English distorted the word to the consonant white - white. Later the name spread to other languages. Although in fact the rhino is dark gray in color.
The white rhino is very similar in structure to its brother, the black rhino. It also has two horns, with the front more developed. Its record length was 158 centimeters.
The discovery of the white rhino dates back to 1857 and is attributed to the English naturalist William Burchell.
The main thing that distinguishes a white rhinoceros from a black one is the structure of the upper lip. Wide and flat, with a pointed bottom edge, it is designed for cutting grass, which is the main diet of the white rhinoceros. The upper lip of the black rhinoceros is pointed, which makes it easier for him to break off the bush.
Habitat
Rhinos live in groups of about a dozen individuals, which consist of a male and several females with calves. Old males often adjoin groups. At moderate temperatures, rhinos graze throughout the day, in hot weather or in bad weather they prefer to stay under the protection of trees.
The habitat of the white rhino is two isolated areas on the African continent: the northern one in the Congo and South Sudan, the southern one covers South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
At the moment, the northern population of the white rhinoceros has been completely exterminated. Since the discovery of the species, its numbers have been rapidly declining, and in 2008 the media announced that there were no representatives of the northern subspecies in the wild.
In 1892, 35 years after its discovery, the white rhinoceros was considered extinct. However, in South Africa, it was possible to find surviving individuals in a hard-to-reach area. In 1897, the species was taken under protection, which ensured its safety.
In the southern area, despite the systematic extermination by poachers, it was possible to save about 11 thousand individuals of the white rhinoceros.
The animal is listed in the International Red Book. Thanks to the efforts of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, it was possible to avoid its complete disappearance. Today, the white rhino is listed in the low risk category.
