White rhinoceros

• Status: Threatened
• Large African savannas, today mostly in southern African reserves

Numbers

Weight

6400 lbup to 8,800 lb in males

Length

11 fthead-body, from 10.5 to 12 ft

Height

6,4 ftat the shoulders, from 6 to 6.5 ft

Lifespan

55 yearsfrom 50 to 60 years

Front horn

67 inmaximum length

Maximum weight

8800 lbexceptional males only

Gestation

17 monthsfrom 16 to 17 months

Ten fun facts

1. 01

   the name white comes from a mistake because Afrikaans wyd means wide and described the lip, not the skin color.

2. 02

   in the Zulu language its name is Mkhombe, while the word white was given to it by Afrikaans settlers.

3. 03

   the front horn can reach five and a half feet, which is taller than many adult human beings.

4. 04

   an exceptional male can reach sixteen feet in length and weigh nearly nine thousand pounds, but these cases are rare.

5. 05

   this giant is the most social rhino species and forms small herds that sometimes exceed ten individuals.

6. 06

   gestation lasts sixteen or seventeen months and results in a single calf, while twin births are extremely rare.

7. 07

   when fleeing danger the calf runs in front of its mother rather than behind, staying protected from predators.

8. 08

   around 1880 only twenty-five or thirty individuals survived in Umfolozi, South Africa, putting the species on the brink.

9. 09

   during the 1960s Operation Rhino captured and relocated excess animals to repopulate other African parks and reserves.

10. 10

    Sudan, the last known northern male, died in Kenya in 2018, leaving behind only two surviving females.

The quiz answers

The first one is the question printed in your book: here is the answer. The other four are extra.

Try it yourself

Data from Wikidata (Q159918) and Wikipedia (White rhinoceros).