You are here: Home : About the Zoo : Animal Finder : Rhino
Rhinos are surprisingly agile, despite their bulky appearance.
photo: Tom Gillespie
Characteristics: The largest of all rhinoceros species, the southern white rhino weighs 7000-9000lbs. They are distinguished by a large shoulder hump and squared lip. Rhinos have thick gray skin which forms inflexible plates over the shoulders, haunches, sides, forehead and cheeks.
Rhinos are surprisingly agile, despite their bulky appearance. Their long, heavy head is carried close to the ground. Rhinos have poor eyesight and depend heavily upon their hearing and sense of smell.
Diet: Unlike other rhino species, white rhinoceros are exclusively grazers. Other rhinos are browsers that feed on trees, branches and shrubs. White rhinos possess squared lips that allow them to feed on short grasses.
Reproduction: Females typically give birth to one calf that weighs 175-200lbs. Calves stay with their mothers for 2-3 years.
Environmental Connections: Thanks to successful conservation strategies, the southern white rhinoceros population is improving in the wild. Unfortunately other species such as the black rhino and the northern white rhino population are in severe danger of extinction.
Years of relentless poaching and civil war have decimated rhino populations. Their horns are thought to have medicinal qualities although this has never been proven. Rhino horn is also used to make highly coveted curved daggers in some Arab nations. A population of reintroduced rhinos was quickly hunted to near extinction in one African nation.
Rhinos need space to graze without the threat of poachers. Human encroachment has reduced their habitat and forced them into small, protected areas.
Protecting rhinos means preserving the habitats in which they live. No ecosystem stands alone so it is important that we work to protect ecosystems on a global level
What You Can Do
e-mail this page
print this page
N.C. Zoo is a member institution of AZA and an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr. Secretary; Michael F. Easley, Governor. A part of the North Carolina Government portal.
The Zoo is closed Christmas day and during severe weather. Call our information line at: 1-800-488-0444.
