One of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros is known as the southern white rhinoceros or southern white rhino. Southern white rhino is the rhinoceros subspecies that is most prevalent and widely found with so many facts. Although the vast majority of southern white rhinos are found in South Africa, the savannas of Kenya, Namibia, and Zimbabwe are home to nearly all of them. South Africa is the nearly exclusive home of southern white rhinos. Several nations in the east and central Africa once hosted northern white rhinos. Only four nations are home to the vast majority (98.8%) of southern white rhinos: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. This article will share with you some interesting Southern white rhino facts. Keep reading.
Only populations of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum), which has two separate subspecies, are still alive and well. One of the biggest and heaviest land animals in the world is the southern white rhino. They have huge heads and bodies, short necks, and wide chests. The horn of a rhinoceros is not fused to its skull. Like our own hair and nails, it is essentially a compact clump of hair that keeps growing throughout the animal’s lifespan. A white rhino had a horn that was the longest ever recorded; it was just about 60 inches long (five feet).
A woman from Las Vegas, Nevada is thought to have the world’s longest fingernails, with around 10 feet of them on each hand, while a Chinese woman is said to have the world’s longest hair, measuring over 18 feet long! Unfortunately, neither human hair nor fingernails are thought to provide the therapeutic benefits that some people associate with rhino horn. If people truly felt they did, they would stop the wasteful killing of rhinos and gnaw their own nails, and trim their own hair to feel better. The southern white rhino, which can reach a height of 6 feet at the shoulder and weigh up to 6,000 pounds, is one of Africa’s most recognized huge creatures. Its time to have some Southern white rhino facts.
Southern white rhino facts
Let’s find below 24 interesting, Southern white rhino fun facts:
- The square-lipped rhinoceros, commonly known as the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum), is a subspecies of the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum).
- The southern white rhinoceros, the largest rhinoceros group in terms of population, are almost exclusively found in southern Africa, ranging from Angola and Namibia eastward through Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
- Smaller populations made up of introduced animals can also be found in Kenya and southern Zambia. Zoos and private wildlife reserves across the world are also home to southern white rhinoceroses.
- Although some claim that comparative morphology and DNA study suggests that the two populations may be separate species, most experts classify white rhinoceroses into two subspecies: the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and the southern white rhinoceros (C. simum simum).
- The only rhinoceros species in which males are visibly bigger than females is the white rhinoceros. It loves short grasses that are 7-10 cm (3-4 inches) high for grazing and rests under shade trees.
- This grazing species has a broad, square snout.
- As opposed to other rhinoceroses, it is often paler. It uses its horns to fight and lives in packs of up to 10 people.
- The top of the skull is more concave in southern white rhinoceroses than in northern ones, and they are heavier and bigger overall.
- They also tend to have shorter limbs and a longer palate.
- Male northern white rhinoceroses tended to be shorter than male southern white rhinoceroses, despite the fact that the biggest males of both subspecies might grow to be between 3.7 and 4 meters (between 12 and 13 feet) long and approximately 2 meters (7 feet) tall.
- (The final male northern white rhinoceros to exist passed away in 2018) Male northern white rhinoceroses may weigh up to 1,600 kg, whereas male southern white rhinoceroses can weigh up to 2,000-2,400 kg (4,400-5,300 pounds) (3,500 pounds).
- Southern white rhinoceros males and females reach sexual maturity at various ages.
- Males do not mate until after age 10, whereas females reach this stage between the ages of 4 and 5.
- Approximately 16 months after a successful mating, a single calf is born.
- Southern white rhinoceroses may reproduce at any time of the year, however, females typically give birth to one calf every 3 to 4 years.
- In the wild, southern white rhinoceroses may live up to 50 years, while in captivity, they can live up to 55 years.
- The same substance that makes up your hair and fingernails, keratin, is used to make rhino horns rather than bone.
- The southern white rhinoceros’ home range is not continuous.
- The animal was previously exceedingly widespread over a huge stretch of bushveld south of the Zambezi River.
- One of the most remarkable success stories in African conservation, the population in southern Africa was reduced to less than 100 individuals around 1900, but in the 2020s, its numbers approached 20,000.
- Based primarily on the southern white rhinoceros’ population success, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources categorizes the white rhinoceros as a near-threatened species; the northern white rhinoceros subspecies, which consists of just two females, is, however, rated as critically endangered.
- Illegal poaching has always been a problem for the southern white rhino. Conservationists are fighting to rescue these beautiful species all around the world.
- Although they are generally peaceful, white rhinos are quite violent when threatened or startled. They have weak eyesight but great hearing and smell.
- Eastern and Southern Africa make up the range or distribution. Open grasslands and savannas provide habitat, and during the dry season, wetlands. Herbivore diet. grazes on thin grass.
I hope you have enjoyed this article on the Southern white rhino facts.
Other Recommended Reading
- White Rhino Population Graph over Time in the World
- Rhino Horn Trade – Ban | Fact | History | Statistics
- Javan Rhinoceros – Does a Rhino have Two Hearts?
- Sumatran Rhinoceros – Why are Sumatran Rhinos Important?
- African Rhino Extinct – Conservation Efforts Taken
- Where do Black Rhino Live -Black Rhinoceros Habitat
- Interesting Facts about White Rhinos
- Northern White Rhinoceros – Northern White Rhino Facts
- Are the Northern White Rhinoceros Extinct?
- African Rhino Facts – Why is the Black Rhino Important?
- Black Rhino Hunting – Why are Black Rhinos Hunted?
- White Rhino Diet – How much do White Rhinos Eat?
- Why are White Rhinos Endangered
- Javan Rhino Conservation
- How many Rhinos are there in the World?
- Is a Rhino Horn made of Bone or Ivory?
- How Much Does a Rhino Horn Weigh?
- What do White Rhinos Eat for Survival?
- White Rhino Extinct – Can We Save the White Rhino?
- White Rhino Conservation – How did White Rhinos go Extinct?