BLACK RHINOS

"HOOK-LIPPED" RHINOS

The smaller of the two species of African rhino, black rhinos are agile, shy and aggressive. Their small, protruding heads and pointed lips give them the nickname 'hook-lipped rhinos'.

The black rhino population suffered a devastating decline between 1900 and the mid 1990s caused by uncontrolled hunting and rampant poaching. From an estimated one million individuals to under 2500.

Their numbers remain incredibly low, at just 6421 individuals. According to the '2024 State of the Rhino Report' by the Internation Rhino Foundation (IRF), the population decreased around 1% in the last year largely due to concentrated poaching in Namibia and Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, South Africa.

Facts

Scientific name

• Diceros bicornis

Diceros bicornis: “Di” meaning “two”, “cerato” meaning “horn” in Greek and “bi” meaning “two”, and “cornis” meaning “horn” in Latin.

Sub-species

• Southern black rhino (Diceros bicornis minor)

• Eastern black rhino (Diceros bicornis michaeli)

• Southwestern black rhino (Diceros bicornis bicornis)

• Western black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes)

Conservation status

• Southern Central: Critically endangered

• Eastern black: Critically endangered

• South Western: Near threatened

• Western black: Declared extinct in 2011

Population (estimates)

• Southern: 2450 (as of Sept 2024)

• Eastern: 1388 (as of Sept 2024)

• Southwestern: 2583 (as of Sept 2024)

- The below populations by country are correct as of 2021 unless otherwise stated.

- Botswana: 23

- Chad: 7

- Eswatini: 48

- Kenya: 938

- Malawi: 56

- Mozambique: 2

- Namibia: 2196

- Rwanda: 28

- South Africa: 2065 (as of end of 2023)

- Tanzania: 212

- Zambia: 58

- Zimbabwe: 616

Population increase/decrease

• Overall, there has been an encouraging growth increase of approximately 12.5% in the last five years. Kenya exceeded its population projection according to its most recent Black Rhino Action Plan. Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and Eswatini have all retained populations despite ongoing threats from poaching. Sadly, numbers in Botswana have plummeted with 138 recorded poaching incidents between 2018 and 2022.

• SANParks' annual report 2021/22 shows a 50% loss of black rhinos in Kruger National Park, South Africa since 2013. According to National Geographic the estimated number of black rhinos in the park is 208. SANParks' annual report for 2022/2023 shows the poaching rate of black rhinos is currently around 3.4%.

Current range, habitat & diet

• Current range: South Africa and Namibia have the largest black rhino populations, accounting for almost 70% of the entire population. The Etosha National Park, Namibia is home to the world’s largest population of black rhinos. Previous range states where black rhinos were declared extinct, such as Mozambique, are implementing reintroduction programmes

• Habitat: a variety of habitats, including grasslands, savannahs, tropical bush lands, thickets, and dry forests, as well as mountain forests and moorlands at high altitudes

• Diet: A third of their day is spent browsing and they consume approximately 2.5% of their body weight daily, their diet consists of twigs, branches, leaves, shrubs and bark

Historic range

• Once prolific across southern, eastern and central Africa in strongholds such as South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Central African Republic

Average lifespan

• 35 - 50 years in the wild. Two of the oldest known black rhinos have died in recent years. Fausta, a female eastern black rhino, died in 2019 at the age of 57, while Toshi, a 44-year-old male believed at the time to be the oldest captive rhino in North America, died in 2021

Physical characteristics

• Their vision is poor. They're unable to see a motionless person at a distance of 30m

• They have well developed hearing and are very sensitive to low-frequency sounds
• Black rhino can charge up to 35 mph
• Female weight: 700 and 1,300 kg
• Female height (to shoulder): 1.4-1.6 m
• Female body length: 250-350 cm
• Tail length: 60 cm
• Male weight: 1,000 - 1,800 kg
• Male height (to shoulder): 1.4-1.8 m
• Male body length: 290-375 cm
• Tail length: 60 cm

Reproduction

• First birth: 4-7 years

• Gestation: 15-16 months

• Birth numbers: Single calf

• Calf birth weight: 27-45 kg

• Eating solids: Within 7-10 days

• Weaned: Around 2 years

• Birth interval: 2.5-4 years

• Female sexual maturity: 4-7 years

• Male sexual maturity: 7-10 years

Social characteristics

• Black rhinos have complex mating structures

• Males are mainly solitary and territorial

• Females with young don't tend to socialise with other adults

• They have been studied regularly, visiting preferred locations at customary times each day

• Rhinos have a complex range of visual, audible and olfactory communication, including snorts, wheezes, squeals and pants, foot pounding, horn prodding and ritualised defecation in the form of middens which are communal dung heaps used like a social network

Rhino horns

• Horns grow approximately 7cm a year

• Rhino horns are worn through general wear and tear or by an intervention known as de-horning (the partial removal of horns as a deterrant to poaching) although the routine is not as commonplace as it is with white rhinos

• Front horn length: 50-130 cm

• Rear horn length: Up to 55 cm