The black rhinoceros

We chose our organization's name, BlackRhinoceros, to honor one of the Earth's most endangered species. We chose it to support the many ongoing efforts to prevent the animal's extinction. We chose it to celebrate the small scale and highly focused campaign with minimum funding as well as international vision, goodwill and persistence to respect and preserve life and the ecosystems of which we are a part.

The apparent robustness of the rhino has not – like that of the Earth itself – so far guaranteed its safety. But it is a powerful creature with many supporters. Like much wildlife, if left alone, it will 'get on' with doing what it needs to do. And like the Earth, it benefits from wise and careful stewardship.

The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is usually – though not always – darker than the white rhino. Its basic gray color in fact varies from yellow-brown to dark brown according to local soil conditions. It has two horns with occasionally a small posterior third one. The black rhino has a prehensile upper lip; that is, one adapted for seizing, grasping and holding – in this case by wrapping it around food.

Lifestyle

Black rhinos feed on the twigs of woody plants and legumes – often browsing in dense thickets. They are usually solitary, although short-lived groups of up to a dozen animals have been observed, with longer-lasting relationships between mothers and daughters. They breed at any time during the year, females reaching reproductive maturity at four to six years and males at seven to nine. The gestation period is between 419 and 478 days with an average two and a half to three and a half years between calves. Their preferred habitats are desert in the south west, montane forests in Kenya and grassland forests.

Size

The animal is between 300cm (9.8 feet) and 375cm (12.3 feet) long with a 70cm (28 inches) tail; its height at the shoulder is between 140cm (4.6 feet) and 180cm (6 feet). It weighs between 800 kg (1,763lbs) and 1,400 kg (3,086lbs) with a life expectancy of over 40 years. Black rhinoceroses (the accepted plural) have excellent hearing and smell but they do not see well if objects are more than 100 yards away. A black rhinoceros can run as fast as 40 mph.

Distribution

Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa (but not in the Congo basin), black rhinos are now only to be found in patches from Cameroon in the west to Kenya in the east and south to South Africa (Azania), which now holds 40% of the world's black rhinos. There are four recognized subspecies of black rhinoceros; all four are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Natural predators are hyenas and lions.

Population Decline

The second half of the last century saw a very rapid decline in population; in the 1960s as many as 70,000 black rhinoceros were estimated to be surviving in Africa. Fewer than 2,500 were recorded by 1998, although their population appears to have stabilized and may even be slightly rising, thanks – in part – to South Africa's extensive and well protected area system.

The chief reasons for this 95% population decline were:

• black rhinos were slaughtered for 'sport'
• they were considered dangerous
• they were killed for their durable hides
• they were 'used' to make dagger handles in North Yemen in the early 1970s, when the price of horn increased over 2,000%
• to use their horns in traditional Asian medicine

The major present threat to the black rhinoceros continues to be a heavy demand for the creature's horn for use in traditional Asian medicine: in 1994, a kilo of horn was estimated to be worth approximately US$60,000 in such markets as China, Yemen, Taiwan and South Korea, where the horn is used for the treatment of epilepsy, fevers, strokes and AIDS. But research at the US National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory has demonstrated a unique pattern of keratin protein in rhinoceros horn. This might enable the substitution of rhinoceros products in oriental medicines.

What is more, poaching pressure remains a very serious threat: in 1994 at least 70kg (154lbs) of raw rhinoceros horn was smuggled into Yemen, representing the death of a minimum of 24 rhinos – despite the fact that attractive and durable dagger handles made from locally quarried agate were available.

Conservation Projects

In 1987 a 'Status Survey' and 'Conservation Action Plan' were compiled by the IUCN/SSC African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group. The latter identified three areas of action to conserve African rhinos:

• political pressure to influence government policy in nations that illegally export or import rhinoceros horn
• promoting use of substitute materials (such as water buffalo horn) in place of rhinoceros horn, and restriction of rhino horn trade within and between Asian nations
• identification of priority areas for rehabilitation of black rhinoceros populations

The International Rhino Foundation has a series of actions you can take to help ensure the survival of the black rhinoceros. BlackRhinoceros has an action to support funding of the US Rhino and Tiger Conservation Act in the United States.

The Black Rhino Foundation is part of SOS Rhino and concentrates on building awareness of the plight of the rhinoceros, as well as generating funding from concerts, corporate development and merchandising to zoos etc in the United States.

In 1991 the WWF began a conservation program for rhinos in Zimbabwe, moving them from areas where they were being poached to areas of relative safety. This program had also dehorned 122 black rhinos by August 1993 because there is evidence that dehorned rhinos are left unharmed by poachers. A similar dehorning program was initiated in Namibia in 1989.

In 1991 a project supported by theWildlife Conservation International was begun to investigate the effects of dehorning on desert-dwelling black rhinoceroses. The University of Nevada is investigating horn growth and regrowth, reproductive behavior in rhinos with different horn sizes, and range size of males and females in relation to horn and body sizes.

More

Useful sites with more information about the black rhinoceros are the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the WWF and Enviro Facts. There are at least three 'rhino-cams' at zoos in Washington DC (US), Oregon and Pittsburgh!

In the morning of January 2 this year Kulinda, a 13-year-old eastern black rhinoceros female at the zoo in Columbus Ohio, gave birth to a male calf. Both animals – and the sire, Kijito – are well after a gestation period of nearly 17 months.