RHINO FACTS

RHINO FACTS

1. There are five types of rhinoceros: White, Indian, Javan, Black and Sumatran.  Black and white rhinos live in Africa and they can live for 30 - 45 years.

2. The word rhinoceros comes from the Ancient Greek words "rhino" (which means nose) and "keras" (which means horn).

3. Both black and white rhinos are actually grey in colour. You can see the differences between them by looking at the shape of their lips - the white rhino has broad flat lips used for grazing, and the black rhino has long pointed lips for eating leaves and shrubs.

4. All rhinos are herbivores, which means that they eat plants and grasses.

5. Rhinos have poor eyesight, but have good hearing and an excellent sense of smell. They may find one another by following the trail of scent left by another rhino in the bush.

6. A white rhino may weigh as much as 3 600 kg - the weight of 50 average-sized men. It can also run over 60 km per h our over short distances.

7. Rhino horns are not made of bone, but thick hair, they have been known to grow up to five feet (one and a half meters) long.Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to fight.

8. The white rhino got its name from the Dutch word "weit" which means wide; they were talking about its wide, square mouth.

9. Rhinos enjoy wallowing in the mud, this is because it  is cooling in hot African summers, and the mud acts as a natural sunblock and bug spray.

10. Rhinos are odd-toed (three toes) ungulates, which means they are mammals that have hooves. They are more closely related to horses than hippos are.

11. Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years. A mother will stay with her calf for 2 - 4 years.

12. Black rhinos have a prehensile upper lip (like a set of fingers) that can be used to pull out the smallest piece of vegetation from a thorn bush. Showing their intelligence, they can also use their lip to open gates and even car doors.

13. Rhinos are a critically endangered species that have been around for 50 million years, but if this continues there will be none left. This is no longer a "game" and we need to pool all our "reserves" to fight the problem of their "plummeting" numbers.

14. Don’t fall for the story that rhino horns have magical powers; they are made the same old stuff that makes up our hair and fingernails this has been proven by scientists, "in black and white."