FEAST OR FAMINE

The Black Rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ) is also called the Hook-Lipped Rhinoceros. It lives in eastern and southern Africa and it is critically endangered. It is not actually black: it is grey or dark grey. It has two horn-like keratin growths, one behind the other. The front horn is larger than the second horn. The front horn is about 50-140 centimetres (2 to 4.5 feet) long, which is longer than the horn of White Rhinoceroses. Sometimes, a third, smaller horn may develop. They can grow to about 1.8 metres (6 feet), which is about half the size of a White Rhinoceros. It has a pointed and prehensile upper lip, which it uses to grasp leaves and twigs from trees when feeding. Therefore it is a herbivorous browser. White Rhinos are grazers because they eat grass. Because the Black Rhino eats from trees, it prefers habitats with thick scrub and bushland. Black Rhinoceros can also distinguished from the White Rhinoceros by its size, smaller skull, smaller e...

There are only three Northern White Rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium cottoni ) in the world, and they are in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya under 24-hour armed guard. two Northern White Rhinoceroses However, the Southern White Rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ) is the most common of all rhinos seen in zoos and reserves, even though it too is endangered. The Southern White Rhinoceros is also called the Square-Lipped Rhinoceros because it eats grass – it is a grazer and therefore it likes open grasslands. The White Rhino is an African rhinoceros and the largest rhinoceros in the world. It is grey and hairless, except for hair on the ears and tail tuft. It has two horn-like keratin growths, one behind the other. The front horn is about 60 centimetres (2 feet) long and is larger than the second horn. It also has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal. They can grow to about 4 metres (13 feet). They can live to be up to 40–50 years old. Females...

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).