White Rhinoceros - Ceratotherium simum

One of the ‘Big 5’ of the African animal Kingdom. These tanks of the bush, although known as ‘White’ are not white and the name is believed to have been a misunderstanding of the Afrikaans term ‘wyd’ which refers to the broad mouth. This mouth is used for grazing grasses, unlike its cousin the Black Rhino which is a browser of leaves. It is the largest of all rhino species.

The white rhino can be broken into two subspecies of southern and northern. The Northern is listed as critically endangered and there are only two known individuals left, both females and is believed to be extinct in the wild. The Southern race is listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Redlist. 

Threats to the Rhino lie in poaching for their horns. The Rhino Horn is made of keratin, much like our hair and fingernails, it is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. A Common practice now to avoid poachers from killing these giants is to have the horns removed by professional vets.