Southern White Rhinoceros

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Two Southern White Rhinos grazing

Conservation status

Near Threatened

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Rhinocerotidae
Genus:	Ceratotherium
Species:	C. simum
Subspecies:	*C. s. simum*

Trinomial name

Ceratotherium simum simum
Burchell, 1817

Range map in green

The Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) is a subspecies of the White Rhinoceros and is the most common subspecies of rhino in the world. It is assessed as near threatened by the IUCN red list. Almost all of these creatures live in South Africa.

Description

The Southern White Rhinoceros is larger than the northern subspecies. Adult males can weigh up to 2.5 tonnes and females 1.9 tonnes. Usually 69 inches tall at the shoulder. Color is light which can range from yellow-brown to grey. It has stubby legs and has a very large hump on its back. They have two horns, the front one being the largest and can be as long as 36 inches. The horn grows through out its entire lifetime. It also has a broad flat mouth for grazing. Like all rhinos it has a poor eyesight but a very good sense of smell.

Habitat, range & behavior

They inhabit grasslands and savannah woodlands. Like the Northern White Rhinoceros it is also a grazer. The wide lips allow it too get as much food intake as possible. It is actually one of the largest pure grazers in the world. The rhinos have home territories and the adult bulls are solitary while the female and calves form family groups. This species is not aggressive, but instead very sociable . Most active in the evening they spend the daytime hours wallowing in mudbaths or resting. It's predators include: Hyenas, Lions, and Man.

In some locations, such as the Waterberg region of South Africa, efforts are being made to restore parts of the historic range.^[1] These efforts include removal of fences and restoration of prevalent prehistoric grass species as best as can be conjectured.

Reproduction

Cows reach sexual maturity at 6-7 years of age while the bulls reach sexual maturity at 10-12 years of age. The females will usually breed with the dominant male of the territory. Fights between males for cows are common and can get quite serious. Mating may last as long as two hours. Breeding pairs may stay together for as long as 20 days. Gestation occurs over 16 months and when born they weigh around 143 pounds. The calves are weaned after 1 year and the birth interval for this subspecies is 4 years.

Population

At the beginning of the 1900s only a small population of 20 animals remained after decimation from the killings by hunters and farmers. This made them the rarest subspecies of any rhino at this time. But because of great conservation measures their population has boosted to the most common of rhino subspecies. Now there are over 11,600 wild southern white rhinos and 767 individuals in zoos. They have more numbers of this subspecies of White rhino than all the other subspecies of rhino combined. Very easy to breed in captivity although for reasons unknown, the rate of reproduction is extremely low among captive-born southern white females. Almost all of Southern White Rhinoceros live in South Africa (94.2% live here). Although populations have been established outside their historical range in Kenya and Zambia. Much smaller populations have also been reintroduced into Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

Threats

They once came nearly extinct in the early 1900s due to hunting and persecution by farmers. Poaching of their horn for Asian medicine and for Yemeni dagger handles is the biggest threat towards the subspecies. Although the demand for the horn in Yemen has declined. Poaching pressure is still pretty high though and conservation guard can not be eased.