The Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)
The white rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros is considered to consist of two subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 20,000 wild-living animals as of 2015,[3] and the much rarer northern white rhinoceros. White rhinoceroses are found in grassland and savannah habitat. Herbivore grazers that eat grass, preferring the shortest grains, the white rhinoceros is one of the largest pure grazers. It drinks twice a day if water is available, but if conditions are dry it can live four or five days without water. It spends about half of the day eating, one third resting, and the rest of the day doing various other things. White rhinoceroses, like all species of rhinoceros, love wallowing in mudholes to cool down. The white Rhinoceros is thought to have changed the structure and ecology of the savanna's grasslands. Comparatively based on studies of the African elephant, scientists believe the white Rhino is a driving factor in its ecosystem. Even with increased anti-poaching efforts in many African countries, many poachers are still willing to risk death or prison time because of the tremendous amount of money that they stand to make. Rhino horn can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram on the black market in Asia and, depending on the exact price, can be worth more than its weight in gold. Poachers are also starting to use social media sites for obtaining information on the location of rhino in popular tourist attractions (such as Kruger National Park) by searching for geotagged photographs posted online by unsuspecting tourists. By using GPS coordinates of rhino in recent photographs, poachers are able to more easily find and kill their targets.
Size: 2198px × 2747px
Location: South Africa
Photo credit: © John Porter LRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, ceratotherium, grazer, grazing, herbivore, horn, hunted, large, lipped, mammal, poachers, poaching, rhinoceros, simum, south, southern, square, white, wild
