theblackrhino.co.uk |

The black rhinoceros is a particular species of rhinoceros which is native to Africa’s eastern and central countries such as Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The adjective ‘black’ is slightly misleading as the breed of rhinoceros is in fact more a brownish grey colour. Strangely, the other African rhinoceros is called the white rhinoceros though the two breeds cannot be distinguished by their colours. In fact, the word ‘white’ derives from a mistranslation of the Dutch ‘wijd’ which means ‘wide’. The Dutch employed ‘wijd’ to refer to the square upper lip the rhinoceros boasts as opposed to the pointed lip that the black rhinoceros enjoys.

Sadly, the rhinoceros species in general is critically endangered and the black rhinoceros was dismayingly declared extinct in 2011 by the IUCN, an extremely sad day for the animal kingdom. Black rhinoceros are usually solitary animals that spend minimal amounts of time in groups. Mothers and calves will occasionally gather in groups of limited numbers for a brief spell of time but males do not do this so much.