![]() In 1960 there was an estimated 100,000 Black Rhino (of all subspecies) in Africa, but due to poaching the population fell to around 65,000 by 1970. They are herbivores, using their pointed prehensile upper lip to browse on leaves, fruit, and twigs taken from trees and bushes, rather than grazing on grasses like their big-headed, square-lipped White Rhino relatives do.ĭuring the day they shelter from the sun in the shade, or wallow and roll around at a water hole, coating their skin with mud that acts as both an insect repellent and sunblock. They are weaned after two months but will stay with their mother for 2-4 years before the female is ready to calve again.īlack Rhinos forage mainly during the night or at dawn and dusk. ![]() ![]() Calves weigh 30-45 kg at birth and are usually able to stand within a few hours. The gestation period is 15-17 months and females give birth alone. Adult females are most often in the company of their latest calf.īlack Rhinos have extremely poor eyesight and communicate primarily through scent-marking, such as leaving dung piles known as ‘middens’ throughout their territory, rubbing a scent gland on their head against trees or rocks, or urine spraying, which is how females let bulls know when they are in oestrus.įemales reach sexual maturity at 3.5-4 years old. Adult males have a territory of 3.9-4.7 km, with older animals usually dominant and younger males subordinate. This species is mainly solitary, although it was recently discovered that adult males can be semi-social at water holes.
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