The intraspecific variation in the black rhinoceros has been discussed by various authors and is not finally settled. In 1911 this was formally fixed and the Cape of Good Hope officially declared the type locality of the species. However he also referred to reports from early travellers about a double-horned rhino in Africa and when it emerged that there is only one, single-horned species of rhino in India, Rhinoceros" bicornis was used to refer to the African rhinos (the white rhino only became recognised in 1812). Such a skull is known to have existed and Linnaeus even mentioned India as origin of this species. There is some confusion about what exactly Linnaeus conceived under this name as this species was probably based upon the skull of a single-horned Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis), with a second horn artificially added by the collector. The name means "double-horned rhinoceros". The species was first named Rhinoceros bicornis by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema naturae in 1758. Three subspecies have been declared extinct, including the western black rhinoceros, which was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2011. The species overall is classified as critically endangered (even though the south-western black rhinoceros is classified as near threatened). These species are now sometimes referred to as the square-lipped (for white) or hook-lipped (for black) rhinoceros. The word "white" in the name "white rhinoceros" is often said to be a misinterpretation of the Afrikaans word wyd ( Dutch wijd) meaning wide, referring to its square upper lip, as opposed to the pointed or hooked lip of the black rhinoceros. The other African rhinoceros is the white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum). Although the rhinoceros is referred to as black, its colours vary from brown to grey. The black rhinoceros or hook-lipped rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis) is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Extant & Assisted Colonisation (resident)
RHINOCEROS RUN HOW TO
Describe their differences in size, shape, habitat and way of life.įor more information on how to help save the rhino visit Save the Rhino International.
“Two species are African: the black rhino, with 5,500 animals left, and the white rhino, with 18,000 animals left,” says Emma Pereira, Communications Manager at Save the Rhino International.įind out more details about each of the five rhino species. While there's no exact number, experts believe that only 27,000 to 30,000 rhinos are still alive today. The fight will have to be continued for several years to come if we wish to prevent our remaining wild rhinos from disappearing for ever!
Hopefully the remaining few will soon follow suit. Most of the countries concerned have made, and enforced, laws banning the import of rhino horn. The most successful measures have been to persuade the Eastern countries to stop using rhino horn and substitute it with plastic or buffalo horn. In Africa, the game wardens are now more numerous and better equipped - some sanctuaries have actually been surrounded by electric fences. However, after 10 years of hard work, fighting the poachers and the trade in horn, some of the world's rhino populations are actually increasing! By the end of the 1980s conservationists thought the rhino was doomed to extinction.