Specimen unspecified. Collected by: Powell-Cotton. In Mus?e du Congo Belge, Tervuren, Belgium.
Specimen unspecified. Collected by: Powell-Cotton. In Mus?e du Congo Belge, Tervuren, Belgium.
The black rhino eats leaves and twigs and parts of trees, not even excepting the Acacia, however many thorns they may have.
In Congo, it is forbidden to hunt white rhino. But many believe that the hunt is still open, or they invoke the clause of self-defence. The custom offices at Aba regularly let through horns which are said to have been killed in self defence.
In general, the white rhino is more sociable than the black. One finds small groups which together go to take bath, eat, or lie in a shady place during the hot part of the day.
Photo of a white rhino killed north of Fradje by the late G. Lebrun.
The species is also found, as indicated by Lang, at the Shari-Niger, south of Lake Chad.
The black rhino is only found in Katanga. Photo of a black rhino killed in Karanga by Mr. Sharp. Katanga is in S.E. of Congo. It is still relatively numerous on the high plateaus of the Marungus. It is almost extinct near Albertville, where it was rather numerous on the high land near the Lukuga River before the war. The necessity to have black troops during the campagn in East Africa was their coup de grace.
The black rhino eats leaves and twigs and parts of trees, not even excepting the Acacia, however many thorns they may have.
The white rhino eats exclusively grass, even rejecting (according to Lang) other grassy plants which he might cut off while grazing. This diet has very little moisture, for which rreason he needs to drink water frequently.
The white rhino eats exclusively grass, even rejecting (according to Lang) other grassy plants which he might cut off while grazing. This diet has very little moisture, for which rreason he needs to drink water frequently.
Both African species prefer land with shrubs or savannah. The black species is sometimes found in small forest areas in West Africa. This species does not mind much about the vicinity of water, as its food contains enough moisture.
The white rhino is often accompanied by oxpeckers (Buphaga) which alarm when something is approaching.
Both African species essentially live in land with shrubs and savannah. The white rhino looks for shrub country. Its food is quite dy, fow hcih reason it tries to find places near to natural sources of water.
The origin of the name white is in the past and comes from the Boers, who first saw the white rhino in South Africa. They eveidently saw it coming from some mudbath, covered in greyish or whitish mud. The name witte rhenoster, which they gave to this species, has unfortunately stuck in many languages, although square-mouthed rhino would be more appropriate.
Despite the name white rhino, the animal is the same colour as the black species. Normally, both are a colour from clear olive to ashy grey, or grey-black.
The white rhino is more peaceful than the black. While the black does not hesitate to charge, the white rhino does not get to its feet that easily. I remember to have been told by an excellent sportsman who hunted in the Sudan, that he was surprised that when he approached the rhino seated on a pony, the rhino run away, and the man could just follow him on his pony.
The origin of the name white is in the past and comes from the Boers, who first saw the white rhino in South Africa. They eveidently saw it coming from some mudbath, covered in greyish or whitish mud. The name witte rhenoster, which they gave to this species, has unfortunately stuck in many languages, although square-mouthed rhino would be more appropriate.
In the black species one sometimes finds individuals of which the posterior horn is longer than the anterior one, a race once called keitloa.
Despite the name white rhino, the animal is the same colour as the black species. Normally, both are a colour from clear olive to ashy grey, or grey-black.
Thanks to their thick hide, rhinos can easily force their way through even the wildest and densest vegetation. Even in the high shrubs of the Uele, where sometimes the grass is 4 to 5 metres high at the end of the wet season, they force their paths without much effort. They seem totally at ease in such environment, crushing everything that comes in their paths. It is curious to note that in the Uele, the white rhino often walk on paths which were used previously, which form actual roads often leading to some kind of water. For men, these paths are also very useful, and one often uses these rhino paths to go through the more difficult terrains of the Uele.
In the black species one sometimes finds individuals of which the posterior horn is longer than the anterior one, a race once called keitloa.
Name cottoni dedicated to that eminent english sportsman, Major Powell Cotton, who was one of the first to bring specimens to Europe (one of which was offered to our museum in Tervuren).
