Save the Rhino

This is a zoo shot I took several years ago of a magnificent White Rhino. I changed the background to Black to accentuate every detail of this amazing animal, who as a species on Earth is nearing closer to extinction every day.

WHITE RHINO

IUCN Red List:  Near Threatened
Source: http://www.rhinos.org/rhinos/white-rhino

The white rhino, along with the roughly equal-sized Greater one-horned (Indian) rhino,is the largest species of land mammal after the elephant. The white rhino is the least endangered of the living rhino species. Of its two distinct subspecies, the only populations of the Southern white rhino populations remain viable.The Northern white rhino is believed to be extinct in in its last known habitat in Garamba National Park due to poaching.
 
Current White Rhino Numbers and Distribution
There are currently approximately 20,405 white rhinos surviving (IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group, 2013).
 
Biology

• The white rhino lives in Africa, in long and short-grass savannahs.
• White rhinos are grazers. Its wide, square upper lip is adapted for feeding on grasses.
• White rhinos can live to be 50 years of age.
• Gestation lasts approximately 16 months, and mothers give birth to one calf every 2-3 years.
• Females reach sexual maturity between 6 and 7 years of age; males mature between 7 and 10 years of age.
• White rhinos are semi-social and territorial. Females and subadults generally are social, but bulls are typically solitary. Sometimes, satellite males may reside within one another’s territories.