Rhinos sit high up on the list of animals I enjoy seeing and spending time watching. They are not only shockingly huge; they also have a great character that defines them. They are strong, surprisingly quick and agile and naturally peaceful animals.
Adult white rhino cow horns grow longer and more slender than the bulls’ horns do. The word ‘rhinoceros’ comes from two Greek words, “rhino” meaning nose and “ceros” meaning horn.
The white rhinoceros – the species seen more frequently in this region – is believed to have come from a species of rhino that existed in South Africa’s Western Cape region 7 million years ago. Think about visiting Cape Town and seeing rhinos walking around the base of Table Mountain…
A mother and her calf walk side by side. White rhino calves will stay with their mother for three to four years.
The white rhino is the largest of the five rhino species. They can be as long as 4.5 metres (14.8 feet!) with a shoulder height of 186cm (6.10 feet). The males average about 2,300 kilograms or 5,070 pounds, with the largest weighing up to 3,500 kilograms or 7,940 pounds. They are the second largest land mammal after the various species of elephant. I always like to think that the animal we are watching is as heavy as or even heavier than the vehicle we are sitting in! It’s hard to imagine, but that massive body can move itself at 50km/h (31 mph)!
A rhino cow coming to the water to drink with her calf.
Rhinos have what can only be referred to as a prehistoric appearance. They sport two horns on the front of their skull. The longer one is about 60cm (24 inches) long, with the longest reaching 150cm (59 inches)! The horn is solid keratin; this differs from the bovids (cows, buffalos) in that the bovids have a keratin covering of a bony core.
Their feet are among the rhino’s most interesting features. They have three toes: two smaller ones on the outsides and one larger one in the middle of their foot (see below)!
A rhino has a set of large ears and nostrils but very small eyes. Their eyesight is not their strongest sense, but their hearing and eyesight is incredible.
As many of you know the rhino is highly endangered. There are five species of rhino: two in Africa and three in Southern Asia. The total number of these ancient beasts left in the wild is less than 30,000. Compare that to a population of humans in a city. National Geographic refers to a town as having between 2,500 and 20,000 residents. So if all the rhinos left in the wild were living in the same area we could say that they comprise a very small city… how many people live in your city?
A large male rhino sleeps in the shade on a hot day. Rhinos will usually be more active in the mornings and evenings and will find a shady spot to stop and sleep in the middle of the day.
The rhino has small eyes relative to its head and body size. The rhino’s ears are long and wide and can move independently. Their sense of smell is probably their most developed sense; they have the widest set of nostrils of any land based mammal.
Rhinos will often lie in shallow water or a mud wallow when it is warm. In the process they cool themselves off and kill parasites.
A rhino bull meanders slowly around the open grassland at sunset.
When searching for rhinos, we will often look in grassland areas. White rhinos can eat up to 80 kilograms of grass a day!
Appreciate viewing these unique, colossal animals which have roamed the planet for millions (literally, millions) of years.
It is a privilege to see a rhino roaming free in the wild. They are highly endangered and at least one rhino is poached every day. Rhino poaching and the prevention of it is very close to my heart. Great rhino facts Bruce.
One of the absolute joys of South Africa are the white rhinos 🦏 and if you are really lucky a black rhino 🦏.
Years ago on my first trip to SA ( and with many prior African trips) on seeing my first white rhino in the wild I stood up. A prompt telling off followed, looking back I suspect the ranger may not have had a clue how privileged a sighting that was.
Had an incredible closeup sighting of a rhino and calf. It was the first time I thought of the animal as graceful.
Other rhino sightings seemed to alway include their oxpecker “friends.”
I‘ve been privileged to see many wonderful rhino sightings over the years, but one of my favourites happened on my first visit to Londolozi in 2015. A rhino cow with a calf of about a year old were peacefully grazing next to our vehicle, when the little boy started squealing. Mama had to lie down to let him suckle, as he was already too tall to do it when she was standing. She gave in quickly. Spoiled child!
Hi Bruce. Thanks for the facts above about the White Rhino. The speed of 50 kmh seems impossible until I remembered some years ago we were on a landrover in a game reserve and were chased by a large bull rhino, his lady, plus a large-ish youngster who bounced along for the fun. At one point I looked over the shoulder of our ranger and the speedometer showed we were going at a speed of 43 kmh! The big bull chasing us looked like a huge locomotive in a cloud of dust and at one spot he was gaining on us! He kept it up for 2,2 kms and then must have got bored because he just walked away! The chap in front of us said he could do with a glass of brandy. I just said to him he would be welcome to his glass if he gave me the rest of the bottle. And I am NOT a drinker under normal circumstances! Wendy M
Bruce to say the Calf of a Rhinos is cute is an understatement. At my visit I saw them running and so playful, which pleasantly surprised me. Thank you for highlighting such a spectacular animal
Bruce, I agree that the Rhinos are amazing to photograph. Too bad the Asian countries think that horn is an aphrodisiac, they can sell the horns, but the natives don’t make much on them – they sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market. I hope they survive. I have seen a lot at Londolozi.
Great to see a Rhino that hasn’t been darted and had the characteristic identity notches clipped out of their ears
Thanks for all the rhino info, Bruce! Nice photos as well, especially the mom and calf images!
We spent many hours in Londolozi over the years. Leopards, Lions, but my favorite, Rhinos. Our walls are graced with the rhinos of Londolozi that bring back awesome memories, thank you🥰🦏
A nice, simple overview of these wonderful creatures who should be left alone to be admired and photographed.
Many thanks Bruce for the informative blog with lovely images. I also GREATLY appreciate your thoughtfulness in including measurements into inches, pounds, feet etc. for us. This way we have a fuller understanding and appreciation of the info shared! Thanks!
Such an interesting blog Bruce on an amazing animal. They do seem the most prehistoric of all mammals, especially the Asian species that has what looks like body plates. Your photos are fantastic- especially the reflection. Hopefully the anti poaching measures throughout Africa will continue to save more rhinos!!
I was recently lucky enough to visit Etosha for three days and in that time my family and I had some truly incredible black rhino sightings! Like you said, they really are sensational.
The Okakuejo waterhole in particular is an amazing place to view them!
It’s always great to see rhino in the bush, both Black and White Rhino. My favourite is when the young rhinos give themselves a fright for what appears to be no apparent reason!
I’ve been lucky in recent years to have some fantastic Black Rhino sightings at a park that I frequent which is really special given their endangered status, habits and temperament. Been lucky as well to witness a number of interactions between the two species with one interesting interaction being between two females, one Black and one White Rhino each with small young at a dam.
What I find fascinating are the vocal sounds that rhino can produce. I’ve heard some interesting sounds from young ones whining when trying to drink to an adult female just about bellowing at a male that was making advances on her and her young calf. Definitely not the sound you would think coming from rhino!
My first two trips to Africa I would have classified rhinos as generally just slowly walking along grazing offering little excitement despite their lofty reputation. But on my last visit to Londolozi I was fortunate to observe some more behavior from the rhinos that was a little more interesting. At one sighting, half a dozen rhino were hovering around a mud hole with the dominant two owning the hole and the other four waiting their turn. This lead to some interaction as occasionally the dominant rhinos would exit the mud hole covered horn-to-rump in mud to establish their dominance and hole possession. At another sighting, we came across a buffalo herd at least a hundred strong. Also present was a rhino trio that almost seemed to be amusing themselves by chasing some of the buffalo. Occasionally you would get a one on one stare down between rhino and an individual buffalo. No confirmation that the rhino owed the buffalo money.
Bruce, you could add that they are incredibly quick from a standing start to full gallop in just seconds which is remarkable given their size!