Black Rhinoceros

The black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ), which lives in Africa, is only Diceros , one of the four kinds of Rhinocéros.

Characteristics

Without counting the tail, the black rhinoceros has a length of body which can reach 3,50 m, a height with the garrot of 1,60 m and a weight from 800 to 1500 kg. It is however smallest of the two species of African rhinoceroses. It has two horns, of which that ahead is a little longer (50 cm, and in exceptional cases more than 1 m). It can run until nearly 50 km/h. It is distinguished from the white Rhinocéros ( Ceratotherium simum ), the species nearest, by a relatively squat cranium, two deeply inserted horns and an upper lip digitiforme (in the shape of finger).

The name “the black rhinoceros” is a loan of the English where it was named “black rhinoceros” to make during with “white rhinoceros”, but the two species are actually gray dark and are not distinguished on the plan from the colors. In fact, these misleading names came from a fault of translation of the Afrikaans where wijde means broad , but was confused with white , i.e. white. The forms German be “with broad mouth” and “with pointed mouth” are on the contrary the correct translations of the Afrikaans and one should thus prefer them. These names refer to the upper lip: that of the black rhinoceros is adapted to seize the foliage by tearing off it while that of the white rhinoceros is punt and is appropriate better for brouter of grass.

The black rhinoceroses have an excellent sense of smell and a good hearing. The eyes have on the contrary only little importance: at a distance of 20 meters an rhinoceros can hardly recognize a form.

Distribution

Formerly, the black rhinoceros lived in all the African Savane S. It was even much more widespread than the white rhinoceros.

Today, the 4 countries preserving a relatively important population are the South Africa (especially), the Namibia, the Zimbabwe and the Kenya.

The black rhinoceros was reintroduced in South Africa, with the Malawi, the Swaziland and the Rwanda after the local populations had been exterminated there.

While the white rhinoceros lives open grassy savanna, the black rhinoceros prefers the savanna of thorny shrub or the edges forest. The presence of water points available in the vicinity their is necessary to both.

Subspecies

There existed until there are little still 4 subspecies, but with the recent extinction of Diceros bicornis longipes, there remain nothing any more but 3 about it:

Diceros bicornis minor : it is the most subspecies. She lived at the origin of central Tanzania in the north and the east of South Africa, while passing by Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It would remain about it into 2005 1.770 alive in freedom, plus 75 in zoos.

Diceros bicornis bicornis : it is a subspecies more adapted to arid and semi-arid savannas of Namibia, southernmost Angola, Western Botswana and Western South Africa. It would remain about it into 2005 1.310 alive in freedom, and any in zoos.

In spite of this relative increase, the black Rhinoceroses completely disappeared from much country. Thus, in Central African Republic, there was still in 1980 a beautiful reserve of 3.000 rhinoceroses which were exterminated in only a few years.

According to the report made by WWF of the 13th MEETING OFF THE CONFERENCE OFF THE LEFT TO QUOTE , held with Bangkok from October 2nd to 14th 2004, the black rhinoceros subsiterait in the following countries: Cameroun, Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia (reintroduced) and Botswana (reintroduced). The 4 countries preserving a relatively important population are South Africa (especially), Namibia, Zimbawe and Kenya.

It would have definitively disappeared from the following countries: Central African Republic, Angola, Chad, Democratic republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda.

In 2001 it remained on the whole of Africa a population of 3.100 black rhinoceroses (in particular in the parks of the elephants Addo, of Kruger, Etoscha, Hwange, the Mana Pools, the Serengeti and the Southern Luangwa.) The reintroduction in the South-African national parks improved the general situation, because beside Namibia, South Africa is the single country where protection measures apply effectively, and where the number of black rhinoceroses increases.

The black rhinoceros, victim of the poaching, would have now disappeared from Western Africa. Specialists, who carried out many missions of location, did not find any sign of passage of black rhinoceroses, but on the other hand found many remainders of the animal shot down for its horn.

According to a study of 2006 which could not find some of representative living in North Cameroun, the subspecies of the black rhinoceros of West Africa would be now extinct.

Breedings in captivity

Beside the live animals in freedom there are the black rhinoceroses which are in the largest zoos of the world. The majority of these animals come from captures of young people, such as one practiced them in Africa until the years 1970. For these captures, it was frequent to kill out of a shot the mother for the empécher to protect its small.

A breeding of crowned black rhinoceros of success exists since 1941 with the zoo of Chicago; in 1956 first young “European” was born in Frankfurt on the Hand. The zoological garden of Berlin is known in the whole world for its breeding and its regular births.

However, there remains much less often high nevertheless in captivity than the white Rhinoceros, the more so as he is more aggressive than his cousin.

References

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