White Rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya

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 are pregnant for 16 months before giving birth to a live baby, called a calf. Calves take 2-3 days to walk, and will drink their mothers’ milk for about a year, but they will continue to stay close to their mother until another baby is born.

There are five types of rhino: White Rhinos and Black Rhinos live in Africa, whereas the One Horned Rhino, the Javan Rhino and the Sumatran Rhino live in Asia.

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).

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