The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exists and is one of the few megaherbivore species left. It is native to Northeastern and southern Africa. The rhinos tend to group in herds, from one to seven animals in a herd, though they are solitary animals. On its snout it has two horns which differ from the horns of cattle, sheep, and antelopes, because they are made of keratin fibers instead of bone.
The White Rhino is visibly different from the Black Rhinoceros not in its skin color which is quite similar to that of the Black Rhino, but because of the shape of its mouth - it is wide, for cropping large swaths of grass, while the Black Rhino's mouth has a pointed, prehensile lip.
The term "White" actually comes from the Afrikaans word "weit", meaning 'wide'.) The White Rhinoceros also has a noticeable hump on the back of its neck which supports its large head. Each of the rhino's four feet has three toes. It is sometimes known as the Square-lipped Rhinoceros because of its protrudent lip that helps it graze on short grasses quickly in the savanna. The rhinos are also capable of going four or five days without water.
Poaching
Like the Black Rhino, the White Rhino is under threat from habitat loss and poaching. Due to a recent increase in poaching a majority census as of January 15, 2005 has come to the conclusion that in the current habitat of little protection against increasingly daring poachers, the best way to ensure the continuation of the species is to airlift every known White Rhinocerous in the Democratic Republic of the Congo into Kenya.
External Links
The Big Zoo (http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/White_Rhinoceros.asp)
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