The white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum, is one of the two African species of rhinoceros which itself has two sub-species, the northern white rhinoceros (DRC and Central Africa) and the southern white rhinoceros (South Africa).
Profile
Near Threatened (NT)
Lifestyle
These large herbivores live in savannahs near waterholes and mark out their territory with collective piles of dung.
Mature males tend to be solitary, while females and young live in herds of several dozen individuals.
Distinctive features
Unlike some of their Asian cousins, African rhinos have two horns. Many legends attribute erotic virtues to these simple protuberances of keratin, no doubt due to the sexual performance of rhinos, whose coitus can last a whole hour and be repeated many times a day.
The white rhinoceros can be distinguished from the black rhinoceros by its broad, square lip.
THE WHITE RHINOCEROS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
There are two subspecies of white rhino in Africa, the southern and the northern, which is almost extinct in the wild. Every year, the number of white rhinos falling victim to poaching increases. White rhinos came close to extinction in the 1980s, before South Africa initiated a policy to save the species. Since then, reintroduction programmes have been carried out in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Today, the fight against the illegal trade in horns is intensifying. Many legends attribute aphrodisiac and medicinal virtues to these simple protuberances of keratin.
At the Parc zoologique de Paris, two rhinos have been chosen by the coordinator of the European breeding programme to take part in a pilot project to manage the population in European parks.
WHITE RHINOS
MEET THE WHITE RHINOS
Wami and Angus are two male rhinos. They can often be seen lying next to each other under cover in the afternoon. To identify Wami, be observant: he is slightly larger than Angus, his skin is more wrinkled around the eyes, and when his head is raised, the hump that forms on the back of his neck is much larger.
