![]() ![]() Herbivore grazers that eat grass, preferring the shortest grains, the white rhinoceros is one of the largest pure grazers. White rhinoceroses are found in grassland and savannah habitat. The white rhinoceros has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal. The olfactory passages which are responsible for smell are larger than their entire brain. Its ears can move independently to pick up sounds but it depends most of all on smell. White rhinos have a distinctive broad, straight mouth which is used for grazing. Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. The color of the body ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. ![]() Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes. The white rhinoceros also has a noticeable hump on the back of its neck. The front horn is larger and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length, reaching as much as 150 cm (59 in). These are made of solid keratin, in which they differ from the horns of bovids (cattle and their relatives), which are keratin with a bony core, and deer antlers, which are solid bone. On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind the other. The largest recorded white rhinoceros was about 4,500 kg (9,900 lb). The male, averaging 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) is heavier than the female, at an average of 1,700 kg (3,700 lb). Weight in this animal typically ranges from 1,360 to 3,630 kg (3,000 to 8,000 lb). The head and body length is 3.7 to 4 m (12 to 13 ft) in males and 3.4 to 3.65 m (11 to 12.0 ft) in females, with the tail adding another 70 cm (28 in) and the shoulder height is 1.7 to 1.85 m (5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 0.8 in) in the male and 1.6 to 1.77 m (5 ft 3 in to 5 ft 10 in) in the female. It has a massive body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. The white rhinoceros is the largest of the five species of rhinoceros and the world's largest land mammal after the three species of elephant. Distinct morphological and genetic differences suggest the two proposed species have been separated for at least a million years. Following the phylogenetic species concept, recent research has suggested the northern white rhinoceros may be an altogether different species, rather than a subspecies of white rhinoceros, in which case the correct scientific name for the former is Ceratotherium cottoni. The two other rhinos presently live at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in California. One of two remaining in the Czech Republic died in late May 2011. Four of the six rhinos (which are also the only reproductive animals of this subspecies) were transported to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Africa, where scientists hope they will successfully breed and save this subspecies from extinction. Initially, six northern white rhinoceros lived in the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. ![]() In the world, there are currently only three rhinos of this subspecies left in captivity and four have been returned to a conservancy in Kenya. Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Africa south of the Sahara, this subspecies is a grazer in grasslands and savanna woodlands. Northern white rhinoceros – The northern white rhinoceros, or northern square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is considered Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.However, for reasons that are not currently understood, the rate of reproduction is extremely low among captive-born southern white females. For instance, 91 calves have been born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1972. ![]() Wild-caught southern whites will readily breed in captivity given appropriate amounts of space and food, as well as the presence of other female rhinos of breeding age. Populations have also been introduced outside of the former range of the species to Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. There are smaller reintroduced populations within the historical range of the species in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, while a small population survives in Mozambique. South Africa is the stronghold for this subspecies (93.0%), conserving 16,255 individuals in the wild in 2007 (IUCN 2008).
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