Like many endangered animals, they are traded illegally as traditional Chinese medicine. While habitat destruction, competition for food, and war in the surrounding areas all contribute to the decline of this species, their primary threat is illegal poaching. This species has been known to eat up to 220 different species of plants, making them generalist feeders that do not specialize on one specific type of food. Some commonly eaten foods include leafy plants, fruits, thorny bushes, shrubs, and herbs. They are browsers, which means that they feed on leaves and shoots. Unlike the other African species, black rhinos do not feed primarily on grass. Small populations exist in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, and Chad. Unfortunately, today they are restricted to small pockets of population in heavily guarded reserves. In the past, these creatures ranged across the vast majority of southern and eastern Africa. Because they are browsers of plants rather than grazer, which eat grass, this species must live in areas with dense vegetation. They can inhabit deserts, acacia savannahs, wooded grasslands, and woodlands. While this species can naturally occur in a wide range of habitats, they only occur today in areas that are heavily guarded nature preserves. Instead of spreading their feces all around the territory, which can potentially spread disease, they choose a singular location to defecate in. Midden – Rhinos are surprisingly tidy, and have a special location in their territories called a midden.Not so Black Rhino – Ironically enough, black rhinos are actually not Also ironically, white rhinos aren’t white! All five rhino species are a dull shade of grey.The black species uses their prehensile lip to browse for leaves and plants, and the white species uses their flat lip to graze for grass. This lip differs from their other African neighbors, white rhinos. This is due to their pointed, prehensile upper lip. Snack Talk – Black rhinos are also known as hook-lipped rhinos.The longest recorded horn length was an astounding 4.9 ft.! While lions occasionally kill young rhinos, adult rhinos cause each other the most harm! Part of the reason lions don’t mess with these creatures is their long, defensive horn. Horn-tastic! – These large mammals have no natural predators as adults. ![]() ![]() In addition to their fantastic defensive traits, they have a number of small, unique, adaptations to aid in everyday life. These large mammals are amazingly well adapted for survival. The front horn in usually longer than the second, and on rare occasions a third horn can grow. Two keratin-sheathed horns sprout from a core of bone in the front of the face. The best way to describe any rhinoceros species is “built like a tank.” They have broad, sturdy bodies with thick, armored skin.
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