Animal of the Day: Black Rhinoceros!

One subspecies of black rhinoceros is extinct, the rest are critically endangered :(

It is not yet fully agreed upon (but when are things fully agreed upon?) how many rhinos qualify as black rhinos, but most consider there to be 7 or 8 subspecies of black rhino.

These rhinos stand 4.5 to 6 feet tall at the shoulder, and 9.2 to 12 feet in length. Their tails tend to be two feet long. Black Rhinos have been known to be as light as 1300 lb and as heavy as 6380lb. They have two horns made of keratin and the longer one has been known to reach about 4.9ft tall. Some rhinos even grow a third, small horn. Black rhinos have a distinctive, hooked lip to help them browse for food.

The rhinos have thick skin to protect against thorns and sharp grass; this skin is also good for hosting parasites such as ticks. That is why rhinos are commonly known to have birds hanging out on them. These birds are oxpeckers who eat the ticks, and are even suspected to drink the rhino's blood.

Naturally, the rhinos ranged southern and eastern Africa. But sadly, they can only be found on nature reserves. These rhinos have been successfully reintroduced to Malawi, Zambia, and Botswana.

Black rhinos are usually solitary, but not very territorial. Sometimes females and children congregate, but generally they are lone wolves. Mamas are very protective and loving of their babies. Despite their lack of territorialness, they are very aggressive and sometimes tack mere tree trunks and termite mounds. This may be due to their poor vision. It is believed they have very good smell and hearing though. They have the highest mortal combat levels of all animals.

They have no natural predators, but in highly exceptional cases they have fallen prey to crocs. Sometimes lions go after babies and extremely small adults.

Rhinos follow paths that elephants clear through forests, to get to watering holes. Rhinos like wallowing in mud or dust to cool down and ward off parasites.

Rhinos can regenerate broken or damaged horns.

Beside the black rhino, there are five other species of rhino.

Rhinos can live up to 45 years in captivity.