southern white rhinoceros conservation status

Southern white rhinoceros conservation status skin#

Almost all females breed after 5 years of age. Females usually experience their first estrus at the age of three and half years, but they don’t breed until age 5. Males detect whether females are ready to mate by the smell of urine urine includes chemicals that signals females in estrus. However, if females successfully enter into another male's territory, then the previous male will discontinue his effort to follow the femal. Before mating, pair bonds last for 5 to 20 days in this period if females attempt to enter another male’s territory, males block the way, and sometimes confrontation occurs between males and females. If the female is ready, then the male usually follows her for 3 to 5 more days, during which time the females responds with snorts and roars. Once the female enters the territory, the male remains with the female for a day to investigate whether the female is ready to mate. Male white rhinoceroses are vigilant for females who enter into their territory. The mating system in white rhinoceroses is polygynandrous, meaning both males and females have multiple sexual partners. A feature that distinguishes these two subspecies from each other is their body hairs, as the southern subspecies has fewer body hairs than their northern counterparts. However, there is no quantitative data published on the sizes of males and females and northern and southern to compare here. In both subspecies, female white rhinoceroses are slightly smaller than males. Northern white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) are relatively smaller in weight and body length than southern white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum simum). Body hairs are visible three months after of birth in white rhinoceroses. The horns of juveniles can only be seen six weeks after birth, when black membranes covering the horns fall off. White rhinos are so called not because they are 'white,' but because their face is 'wide' (a missed translation).Īt birth, the average weight of juveniles is 40 to 60 kg, and the head and body length is 0.50 to 0.65 m. Moreover, they have flat broad mouth for grazing. The epidermis of white rhinoceroses is 1 mm thick and their dermis is 18 mm thick, on average.

Southern white rhinoceros conservation status skin#

White rhinoceroses have pale gray skin which is dense, tough, and has plate-like folds. These animals have 24 teeth, with a dental formula of: incisors 0/0, canines 0/0, premolars 3/3, and molars 3/3. In addition, white rhinoceros average shoulder height is 1.71 to 2.85 m, whereas their average girth is between 2.01 and 2.20 m. The average length of tail of white rhinoceroses ranges from 0.57 to 0.77 m. The average length of their head and body, not including tail, is 3.35 to 3.77 m. The shorter horns can grow up to 550 mm in length.

The recorded length of longer horns is 1660 mm in length. White rhinoceroses have relatively small eyes compared to their body size, squared-shaped lips, and a long neck with a hump. They weigh approximately 1000 to 3600 kg as adults. White rhinoceroses are one of the largest terrestrial mammals. As temperature increases, they move to shadier areas such as dense forest or mid-slopes of hills. In addition, white rhinoceroses are more commonly found near riverbanks and bottomland areas during morning hours.

White rhinoceroses usually live near water sources because they generally consume water as often as twice a day. Typical habitat for white rhinocerose includes dense forests, savannas, and woodlands with grassy openings. Status survey and conservation action plan', 1999 Estes, 1991 Groves, 1972 Nowak, 1999 Skinner and Chimimba, 2006) Whereas, the southern white rhinoceroses inhabit Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Zambia.įurthermore, African governments have been preserving populations of rhinoceroses in protected areas, such as Kruger National Park of South Africa, Mlilwane Game Sanctuary of Swaziland, Murchison Falls National Park of Uganda, and Meru National Park of Kenya. Presently, northern white rhinoceroses only inhabit the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, the current range of these subspecies is much more restricted. Southern white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum simum) were native to all of southern Africa.

Historically, northwestern Uganda, southern Chad, south-western Sudan, the eastern part of center African Republic, and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo were the native places for northern white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni).