You will hardly see a white rhino wandering around carrying its head high, as it prefers to walk with its mouth lowered to the groundĪs the white rhino’s nose and eyes are always on the ground, the animal depends on their ears for their overall awareness and safety. The white rhino has a large flat upper lip that is designed to graze grass. The white rhino derives from the word “wyd” in Afrikaans, which means “wide”, and describes its wide-squared mouth. Surprisingly, the difference between the white and black rhino does not come from their colour. The difference between the white and the black rhino Male and female rhinos mark their territories with dung heaps called “middens” to communicate their whereabouts and reproductive condition. ![]() Rhinos communicate by using piles of dung to leave messages for other rhinos. The dung of a baby rhino smells different than that of an adult, and a female’s dung smells different to a male’s. Rhinos rub their bodies against tree trunks and rocks to remove ectoparasites which have become stuck in the dry mud on their skin.Įach rhinoceros has a unique smell and can be identified by other rhinos. By covering themselves with wet mud and letting it dry, the clay acts as a sunblock and protects their skin from other insects. Rhinos have thick, sensitive skin that can react to sunburns and insect bites. The oxpecker also acts as an alarm for the rhino, creating commotion when danger is near.Īnother fun rhino fact is that they love wallowing in mud. The oxpecker eats the ectoparasites that sit on the rhinos hide, keeping the Rhinoceros free of ticks and the oxpecker fed. In Swahili, oxpeckers are the “ askari was kifuru” – which means the rhino’s guard. Rhinos and oxpecker birds have a symbiotic relationship. When rhinos are murdered, their horns are sold as trophies, or more often ground into a powder and used in traditional Chinese medicine. Rhino horn is not bone, but rather a compacted mass on the nose that continues to grow throughout the animals lifetime. Keratin is the same fibre that is found in hair, fingernails as well as pangolin scales. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |