White Rhinoceros ‒ Calf

White Rhinoceroses are the largest of the five rhinoceros species, males commonly reach weight up to 2.3 tons and females up to 1.7 tons. They inhabit bushy grasslands of South Africa, where they do graze on plants and grasses. One of the adaptation to this way of life is their wide upper lip, the feature distinguishing them from the other rhinoceros species which also carries on its head two horns, the Black Rhinoceros. Rhinoceros’s horns are made of keratin, there is no bone inside them, in White Rhinoceroses the longer front horn may reach the length of 1 m. The main threat endangering the population of rhinoceroses is illegal hunting (poaching) for their horns used in traditional Chinese medicine or for ornamental purposes. The name of the species, White Rhinoceros, is not connected with its colour, it is probably truncation of the word “wide“ referring to the shape of its upper lip.



The female White Rhinoceros gives after 16 months of gestation birth to a single calf. Rhinoceros‘s calf becomes active soon after birth and follows its mother for approximately three years, till her next calf is born. Groups of young White Rhinoceroses commonly graze together and also the females without calves form temporary herds. Young females reach sexual maturity earlier than males.