124 in zoos
20 in zoos
390-450
> 100.000
700
20
very numerous
29
238 in zoos
2471
500.000 animals, 500 years ago
50-100
50-100
ca. 750
ca. 2200
14.785
65,000, black & white, all Africa
65,000, black & white, all Africa
about 1000 years ago, there were > 50.000
Less than 1200
1800
7819
100
150
2250
when discovered, there were thousands
They live in savannah of thornbushes, wooded edges of deserts, and light gallery forests.
When galopping they can reach a speed of 45 km/h.
A rest population in Vietnam is possible.
The characteristic of a rhino is the horn on the nose. There are one or two horns, depending on the species. The horns of the recent rhinos are no bones surrounded by horn which are stuck to the skull. They are pure horngrowths, which are attached to the skullbones through numerous strings of connectove tissue, and the horns can even be moved a little bit. The general opinion that the rhino horn is made up of hairs which are glued to each other, is wrong. Hairs and the horn cones are similar but not identical. The hoofs of horses and the claws of pigs can be compared with the rhino horn, they are the same in general composition. The only difference is that the hoofs and claws have much thinner horncones (Horns?ulchen) and much more inter-horn-substance. [Also illustration of horn under electron microscope, p.18).
The compact form of the rhino makes the relation between body surface and body volume to be unfavourable. The animals can only release little heat into the air, which is why all rhinos wallow. The frequent mudbath also helps in skincare and against sunburn.
They are usually active by day and dusk.
Active by day.
Panzernashorn
Weisses Nashorn
Schwarzes Nashorn
Rhinos are the largest mammals with uneven number of hoofs. When walking, rhinos put all three toes on the ground simultaneously. An elastic sole under the bones in the feet ensure that there is a broad surface to carry the weight of the animal. Due to this weight, the legs of rhinos are short and pillar-like. When the animal walk or run, especially when they gallop, they must withstand enormous powers.
The name black leads to misunderstanding, as the animal has the colour of the mud in the wallow.
drawing in colour of Clara, Dutch Rhinoceros, 1746 - illustrated in Neuschulz & Meister 1998: 13. (Stadtarchiv Hannover)
The first real rhinoceroses of the family Rhinocerotidae lived 50 million years ago in the Eocene. Among those were the largest terrestrial mammals that ever lived on earth. Most of the extinct forms of rhinoceros did not have nasal horns. Horn-bearing kinds lived even in Europe during the ice age 2 million years ago, including the woolly rhinoceros (Fellnashorn) Coelodonta antiquitatis. This characteristic animal of the arctic pleistocene fauna at the end of the last ice age was caused by the drastic change in climate. Bones of the woolly rhinoceros were found in Th?ringen during the demolition of the Travertin-rocks of weimar-Ehringsdorf.
Active usually by day.
Earlier people believed that rhinos shed their horns after few years. It is now known that the loss of horns only occurs when the animals fight among each other or when they try to knock down obstacles. When the part which makes the horn grow is undamaged, the horn grows again, annually about 10 cm.
A typical forest animal
Map of travels Drawing by G.L. Scheitz, 1746 Hannover (Stadtarchiv Hannover) 1748 Z?rich, print in cage (Zentralbibliothek Z?rich, Grafische Sammlung) 1746 Vienna, print (Deutsches Nationalmuseum, N?rnberg)
The name white comes from a wrong translation of the Boer 'wijde' meaning 'wide' which refers to the wide lip.
The name white comes from a wrong translation of the Boer 'wijde' meaning 'wide' which refers to the wide lip.
When there is enough food, there are often several animals in the same place.
Horn in females small or absent
Weight 1500 kg
Fights. Rival males often have strong fight, and the wounds caused by such fights is one of the most common causes of death.
Generally active by day.
Height 2 m
Weight 800 kg
They can swim and dive well.
First rhino 55 BC in show of Pompejus.
The name black leads to misunderstanding, as the animal has the colour of the mud in the wallow.
Weight 1300 kg
woodcut by D?rer
Weight 2100 kg
The females are fertile when 6 years old, and can reproduce up to the age of 28 years.
Horn in females usually small
Weight up to 2400 kg
