ANATOMY OF THE WHITE RHINOCEROS

FEETFACT: A Rhinoceros has three toes, and belongs to the or odd-toed ungulate, meaning a hoofed animal.FACT: Elephants generate the highest ground pressure on the outside of their feet and rhinos generate most of theirs on the inside or central part of their foot when walking.

FACT: The shoulder hump on the back of a white rhino contains ‘elevator muscles’ that helps to support the movement and lift of its large skull .

TEETHFACT: White Rhinos have Pre–Molars and Molars for grinding vegetationFACT: They have 24 teeth

LIPSFACT: White rhinos have squared flat lips for grazing on vegetation on the ground. Unlike the Black rhino that have a pointy top lip for browsing on trees.

STOMACHSFACT: Rhinos are hind gut fermenters like horses, this means they have a single chambered stomach.

FACT: POOP ALERT! A White Rhino can produce 50 pounds worth of poop per day from its bottom. Now that’s a lot of poop!

AUDITORY (means hearing)

FACT: Rhinos can hear between the ranges of 5 to 75 Hertz.

OLFACTORY(means - sense of smell)

FACT: A rhino’s sense of smell is much better than its eye sight.FACT: Males often use their sense of smell to sniff other rhinos poop to see whether a female is in oestrus or whether there is a dominant male in the area.

EYESFACT: Rhinos have very poor eyesight and its believed they can only see up to a distance of 20 metres.

HORNFACT: A White Rhinos front horn can grow to between 94 to 101 cm. The back horn can grow up to 56cm in length. They are made of Keratin, which is the same protein that makes your hair and fingernails.

FEMALE SEXUAL MATURITY: 6 to 7 years.GESTATION PERIOD: 16 monthsMALE SEXUAL MATURITY: 7 to 10 years.