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74-450: Ceratotherium simum cottoni ( northern ) Ceratotherium simum simum ( southern ) The white rhinoceros , white rhino 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 consists of two subspecies : the southern white rhinoceros , with an estimated 16,803 wild-living animals, and

148-463: A 400 by 400 metres (1,300 ft × 1,300 ft) paddock area, allowing them to acclimatize to their new surroundings. Ol Pejeta provides 24-hour armed security for the rhino enclosure. To prevent any unnecessary injuries they might inflict on each other while interacting in their fenced area, and give their horns an opportunity to regrow to a natural shape (as their front horns had grown bent by much rubbing against enclosure bars in captivity), all

222-420: A cow. Cow territory overlaps extensively, and they do not defend it. Cows reach sexual maturity at 6–7 years of age while bulls reach sexual maturity between 10 and 12 years of age. Courtship is often a difficult affair. The bull stays beyond the point where the cow acts aggressively and will give out a call when approaching her. The bull chases and or blocks the way of the cow while squealing or wailing loudly if

296-504: A noticeable hump on the back of its neck. Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes. The color of the body ranges from yellowish-brown to slate grey. Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. White rhinos have a distinctive broad, straight mouth which is used for grazing. Its ears can move independently to pick up sounds, but it depends most of all on its sense of smell. The olfactory passages that are responsible for smelling are larger than their entire brain. The white rhinoceros has

370-687: A similar way in which Katsuhiko Hayashi has grown mouse oocytes out of simple skin cells. The DNA of a dozen northern white rhinos has been preserved in genetic banks in Berlin and San Diego. In August 2019, ten egg cells (five from Najin and five from Fatu) were harvested to be artificially inseminated with the frozen sperm of a northern white rhino as part of a project by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Dvůr Králové Zoo, Kenya Wildlife Service, and Avantea. In September 2019, scientists announced that they fertilized in vitro

444-644: A solitary adult male and a group of one adult male and two adult females. They were the last known wild northern white rhinos, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature . In June 2008, it was reported that the species may have gone extinct in the wild, since there has been no sighting of these four known remaining individuals since 2006, or of their signs since 2007, despite intensive systematic ground and aerial searches in 2008. One carcass has been found. On 28 November 2009, two Russian helicopter pilots reported seeing rhinoceroses in southern Sudan. It

518-407: A solitary adult male and a group of one adult male and two adult females. In June 2008, it was reported that the species may have gone extinct in the wild. Like the black rhino , the white rhino is under threat from habitat loss and poaching , most recently by Janjaweed . Although there are no measurable health benefits, the horn is sought after for traditional medicine and jewelry. Historically,

592-627: A wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. The second part commits the government and its international partners to increase conservation efforts in Garamba, so the northern white rhinos can be returned when it is safe again. However, the translocation did not occur. In August 2005, ground and aerial surveys conducted under the direction of African Parks Foundation and the African Rhino Specialist Group (ARSG) had only found four animals,

666-599: Is a grazer in grasslands and savanna woodlands. Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Africa south of the Sahara , since 19 March 2018, there are only two known rhinos of this subspecies left, named Najin and Fatu, both of which are female; barring the existence of unknown or misclassified male northern white rhinos elsewhere in Africa, this makes the subspecies functionally extinct . The two female rhinos belong to

740-586: Is a mistranslation from Dutch to English. The English word "white" is said to have been derived by mistranslation of the Dutch word "wijd", which means "wide" in English. The word "wide" refers to the width of the rhinoceros' mouth. So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wijd" for "white" and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with

814-594: Is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy , representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time between 2.580 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 0.773 ± 0.005 Ma. The term Early Pleistocene applies to both the Gelasian Age and the Calabrian Age . While

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888-421: 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. Like all species of rhinoceros, white rhinos enjoy wallowing in mud holes 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

962-663: Is critically endangered to the point that only two of these rhinos are known to remain in the world, both in captivity. Several conservation tactics have been taken to prevent this subspecies from disappearing from the planet. Perhaps the most notable type of conservation effort for these rhinos is having moved them from Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic to Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy on 20 December 2009, where they have been under constant watch every day, and have been given favorable climate and diet, to which they have adapted well, to boost their chances of reproducing. To save

1036-467: Is ground into a fine powder or manufactured into tablets to be used as a treatment for a variety of illnesses such as nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions, and fevers. Due to this demand, several highly organized and very profitable international poaching syndicates came into being and would carry out their poaching missions with advanced technologies ranging from night vision scopes, silenced weapons, darting equipment, and even helicopters. The ongoing conflict in

1110-496: Is his territory. Another way of marking their territory is wiping their horns on bushes or the ground and scraping with their feet before urine spraying . They do this around ten times an hour while patrolling territory. The same ritual as urine marking except without spraying is also commonly used. The territorial bull will scrape-mark every 30 m (100 ft) or so around his territory boundary. Subordinate bulls do not mark territory. The most serious fights break out over mating rights with

1184-425: Is quick and agile and can run 50 km/h (31 mph). White rhinos live in crashes or herds of up to 14 animals (usually mostly cows). Sub-adult bulls will congregate, often in association with an adult cow. Most adult bulls are solitary . Dominant bulls mark their territory with excrement and urine. The dung is laid in well defined piles. It may have 20 to 30 of these piles to alert passing white rhinos that it

1258-559: Is the only zoo in the world where northern white rhinos birthed offspring, with the last calf being born in 2000; the current world population consists of their shared descendants. Former residents include: Dvůr Králové Zoo sent Suni, Sudan and two females, which are still alive, to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on 19 December 2009 in a joint effort by the zoo, Fauna and Flora International , Back to Africa, Lewa , and Kenya Wildlife Service . Hoping to stimulate

1332-524: Is very similar to C. simum and has often been considered a fossil and ancestral subspecies to the latter. The study also doubts the ancestry of C. neumayri from the Miocene of southern Europe to the African species. The ancestor of both the black and the white rhino was likely a mixed feeder, with the two lineages then specializing in browsing and grazing, respectively. The oldest definitive record of

1406-627: The Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic but live in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya where they are protected by armed guards. According to the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessment from 2020, the subspecies is considered "Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild)." Following the phylogenetic species concept , a study in 2010 suggested

1480-557: The Thoiry Zoo , which is located in France. A southern white rhinoceros named Vince was found shot dead in his enclosure; the poachers had removed one of his horns and had attempted to remove his second horn. This is believed to be the first time that a rhinoceros had been killed in a European zoo. Even with increased anti-poaching efforts in many African countries, many poachers are still willing to risk death or prison time because of

1554-438: The African elephant, scientists believe the white rhino is a driving factor in its ecosystem. The destruction of the megaherbivore could have serious cascading effects on the ecosystem and harm other animals. White rhinos produce sounds that include a panting contact call, grunts and snorts during courtship, squeals of distress, and deep bellows or growls when threatened. Threat displays (in bulls mostly) include wiping its horn on

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1628-515: The Democratic Republic of Congo and incursions by poachers, primarily coming from Sudan, have further disrupted efforts to protect the few remaining northern rhinos. In 2013, poaching rates for white rhinos nearly doubled from the previous year. As a result, the white rhino has now received Near Threatened status as its total population tops out at 20,000 members. Poaching of the animal has gone virtually unchecked in most of Africa, and

1702-490: The Dvůr Králové Zoo in 2009 in an attempt to protect the taxa in their natural habitat. The only two northern white rhinos left are maintained under 24-hour armed guard in Kenya . Northern white rhinoceros The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni ) is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros ). This subspecies

1776-732: The Gelasian and the Calabrian have officially been defined by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to effectively constitute the Early Pleistocene, the succeeding Chibanian and Tarantian ages have yet to be ratified. These proposed ages are unofficially termed the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene respectively. The Chibanian provisionally spans time from 773 ka to 126 ka, and

1850-569: The Holocene is subdivided into Preboreal , Boreal , Atlantic , Subboreal , and Subatlantic stages of the Blytt–Sernander time scale . There are many regional subdivisions for the Upper or Late Pleistocene; usually these represent locally recognized cold ( glacial ) and warm ( interglacial ) periods. The last glacial period ends with the cold Younger Dryas substage. The Early Pleistocene

1924-485: The Ol Pejeta complex. Staff hope to inseminate the remaining cows with the last bull's semen, although the semen is not preferable due to the age of the rhino. Following the phylogenetic species concept , recent research has led to the hypothesis that the northern white rhinoceros is a different species, rather than a subspecies of white rhinoceros as was previously thought, in which case the correct scientific name for

1998-610: The Rhino", presented by Stephen Fry and the zoologist Mark Carwardine . On 25 April 2012, and on 27 May 2012, Suni and Najin mated. Pregnancy of the female rhinos was monitored weekly. Rhinoceros gestation takes 16 to 18 months, so in January 2014 the Conservancy considered Najin not pregnant, and a male southern white rhino from Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was put to Najin and Fatu enclosure in Ol Pejeta to at least intercross

2072-575: The United States ( San Diego Zoo Safari Park ) and the Czech Republic ( Dvůr Králové Zoo ). However, both of them died later the same year, and no zoo in the world has any northern white rhinos any longer. In 1975, the Dvůr Králové Zoo , located in Dvůr Králové nad Labem , Czech Republic , got six northern white rhinos from Sudan and, in later years, two more from English zoos. One rhino from an English zoo arrived pregnant. The Dvůr Králové Zoo

2146-533: The baby will run in front of the mother, which is very protective of her calf and will fight for it vigorously. Weaning starts at two months, but the calf may continue suckling for over 12 months. The birth interval for the white rhino is between two and three years. Before giving birth, the mother will chase off her current calf. White rhinos can live to be up to 40–50 years old. Due to their size, adult white rhinos have no natural predators (other than humans), and even young rhinos are rarely attacked or preyed on due to

2220-536: The black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis . It has been suggested that the modern white rhino's skull, which is longer than that of Ceratotherium praecox , evolved in order to facilitate consumption of shorter grasses that resulted from the long-term trend to drier conditions in Africa. However, if Ceratotherium praecox is in fact Diceros praecox , then the shorter skull could indicate a browsing species. Teeth of fossils assigned to Ceratotherium found at Makapansgat in South Africa were analysed for carbon isotopes , and

2294-550: The conservancy after an air and road trip on 20 December 2009, along with two male northern white rhinos from the Dvůr Králové Zoo, Suni and Sudan. However, Suni, a male born at Dvůr Králové Zoo in 1980, died from natural causes in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in 2014. Sudan, caught from the wild in 1975, died on 19 March 2018. After the transport, the four rhinos were under constant watch by specialists and staff and lived in specially constructed bomas with access to

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2368-432: The cow tries to leave his territory. When ready to mate, the cow curls her tail and gets into a stiff stance during the half-hour copulation. Breeding pairs stay together between 5–20 days before they part their separate ways. The gestation period of a white rhino is 16 months. A single calf is born and usually weighs 40–65 kg (88–143 lb). Calves are unsteady for their first two to three days of life. When threatened,

2442-493: The death of Nabire in 2015, her ovary with four oocytes was removed and transferred to a laboratory in Cremona , Italy. The laboratory was able to extract two egg cells and fertilise them. However, without consulting the Dvůr Králové Zoo, the semen of a southern white rhino was used instead of a northern white rhino, which the zoo considers a wasted opportunity. Nevertheless, the experiment showed that viable hybrid embryos of

2516-662: The earliest African Ceratotherium is considered to be Ceratotherium efficax (now synonymous with C. mauritanicum) , known from the Late Pliocene of Ethiopia and the Early Pleistocene of Tanzania . This species is proposed to have been diversified into the Middle Pleistocene species C. mauritanicum in northern Africa , C. germanoafricanum in East Africa , and the extant C. simum . The first two of these are extinct; however, C. germanoafricanum

2590-597: The eastern part of Central African Republic, and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The last surviving population of wild northern white rhinos are or were in Garamba National Park , Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) but in August 2005, ground and aerial surveys conducted under the direction of African Parks Foundation and the African Rhino Specialist Group (ARSG) only found four animals:

2664-527: The edge of extinction in the early 20th century, the southern subspecies have made a tremendous comeback. In 2001, it was estimated that there were 11,670 white rhinos in the wild, with a further 777 in captivity worldwide, making it the most common rhino in the world. By the end of 2007, wild-living southern white rhinos had increased to an estimated 17,480 animals (IUCN 2008). The northern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni ) formerly ranged over parts of northwestern Uganda, southern Chad, southwestern Sudan,

2738-449: The eggs with frozen sperm taken from dead males; two of the resulting embryos were viable. In January 2020, it was announced that another embryo was created using the same techniques; all three embryos are from Fatu. These embryos are being stored in liquid nitrogen until they can be placed into a surrogate mother , probably a southern white rhino . In December 2020, 14 egg cells were retrieved from Fatu; eight of them were fertilised by

2812-499: The end of 2015, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, San Diego Zoo Global , Tiergarten Schönbrunn , and Dvůr Králové Zoo developed a plan to reproduce northern white rhinos using natural gametes of the living rhinos and induced pluripotent stem cells . Subsequently, in the future, it might be possible to specifically mature the cells into specific cells such as neurons and muscle cells, in

2886-424: The end of 2024. The northern white rhino formerly ranged over parts of northwestern Uganda , southern South Sudan , the eastern part of Central African Republic , and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo . Their range possibly extended as far west as Lake Chad , into Chad and Cameroon . Poachers reduced their population from 500 to 15 in the 1970s and 1980s. From the early 1990s through mid-2003,

2960-401: The former should be Ceratotherium cottoni . Distinct morphological and genetic differences suggest the two proposed species have been separated for at least a million years. However, the results of the research were not universally accepted by other scientists. The white rhinoceros is the largest of the five living species of rhinoceros. By mean body mass, the white rhinoceros falls behind only

3034-402: The ground and a head-low posture with ears back, combined with snarl threats and shrieking if attacked. The vocalizations of the two species differ between each other, and the panting contact calls between individual white rhinos in each species can vary as well. The differences in these calls aid the white rhinos in identifying each other and communicating over long distances. The white rhinoceros

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3108-528: The historical range of the species in Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe , Uganda and Eswatini , while a small population survives in Mozambique. Populations have also been introduced outside of the former range of the species to Kenya and Zambia. The northern white rhinoceros or northern square-lipped rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni ) is considered critically endangered and possibly extinct in

3182-429: The major factor in the decline of white rhinos was uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era, but now poaching for their horn is the primary threat. The white rhino is particularly vulnerable to hunting because it is a large and relatively unaggressive animal with very poor eyesight and generally living in herds. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, the rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine, where it

3256-561: The mother's presence and their tough skin. One exceptional, successful attack was perpetrated by a lion pride on a sick bull white rhinoceros, which weighed 1,540 kg (3,400 lb), and occurred in Mala Mala Game Reserve , South Africa . The southern white rhino lives in Southern Africa . About 98.5% of white rhinos live in just five countries (South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Uganda). Almost at

3330-410: The much rarer northern white rhinoceros . The northern subspecies has very few remaining individuals, with only two confirmed left in 2018 (two females: Fatu, 24 and Najin, 29, both in captivity at Ol Pejeta). Sudan , the world's last known male northern white rhinoceros, died in Kenya on 19 March 2018 at age 45. A popular albeit widely discredited theory of the origins of the name "white rhinoceros"

3404-400: The narrow pointed mouth, was called the black rhinoceros . Ironically, Dutch (and Afrikaans) later used a calque of the English word, and now also call it a white rhino. This suggests the origin of the word was before codification by Dutch writers. A review of Dutch and Afrikaans literature about the rhinoceros has failed to produce any evidence that the word wijd was ever used to describe

3478-580: The non-violent nature of the rhinoceros makes it susceptible to poaching. Mozambique, one of the four main countries in which the white rhino lives, is used by poachers as a passageway to South Africa, which holds a fairly large number of white rhinos. Here, rhinos are regularly killed and their horns are smuggled out of the country. As of 2014, Mozambique labels white rhino poaching as a misdemeanor. The white rhino population in South Africa's Kruger National Park fell by 60% between 2013 and 2021, to an estimated 3,529 individuals. In March 2017, poachers broke into

3552-598: The northern and southern white rhino are possible through IVF, as well as a path to the creation of pure northern white rhino embryos. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park in San Diego , California , had eight wild-caught northern white rhinos. Former residents include: The San Diego Wild Animal Park provided Angalifu's semen to female rhinos at the Dvůr Králové Zoo but the insemination attempts were unsuccessful. The only reproductive animals of this subspecies were transported to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. In 2016, it

3626-682: The northern white rhino from extinction, Ol Pejeta Conservancy announced that it would introduce a fertile southern white rhino from Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in February 2014. They placed the male rhino in an enclosure with both female northern white rhinos in hopes to cross-breed the subspecies. Having the male rhino with two female rhinos was expected to increase competition for the female rhinos and, in theory, should result in more mating experiences. Ol Pejeta Conservancy did not announce any news of rhino mating. On 22 August 2019, using (ICSI) , eggs from Fatu and Najin "were successfully inseminated" using

3700-408: The northern white rhino male Sudan was moved from the initial holding pens to a much larger 700-acre (2.8 km ) semiwild enclosure. There he roamed among many African animals, including several southern white rhino females and many plains animals. On 26 October 2011, the females were coaxed into the larger enclosure. Until 2011, the progress of this attempt at saving the northern white rhinoceros

3774-502: The northern white rhinoceros may be an altogether different species, rather than a subspecies of white rhinoceros, in which case its correct scientific name would be Ceratotherium cottoni . According to the study, distinct morphological and genetic differences suggest the northern white rhinoceros and southern white rhinoceros have been separated for at least a million years. However, the results of this research were not universally accepted by other scientists. A study in 2016 concluded that

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3848-443: The other. 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 . The average weight of a horn is about 4.0 kilograms (8.8 pounds). The front horn is larger and averages 60 cm (24 in) in length, reaching as much as 166 cm (65 in) but only in cows. The white rhinoceros also has

3922-467: The population recovered to more than 32 animals. Since mid-2003, poaching has intensified and further reduced the wild population. The last known surviving population of wild northern white rhinos was in Garamba National Park , Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In January 2005, the government of the DRC approved a two-part plan for five northern white rhinos to be moved from Garamba National Park to

3996-613: The researchers concluded that these animals consumed more than 30% browse in their diet, suggesting that these are not the fossils of the extant Ceratotherium simum , which only eats grass. It is suggested that the real lineage of the white rhino should be: Ceratotherium neumayri → Ceratotherium mauritanicum → C. simum , with the Langebaanweg rhinos being Ceratotherium sp. (as yet unnamed), and with black rhinos being descended from C. neumayri via Diceros praecox . Recently, an alternative scenario has been proposed under which

4070-549: The rhino outside of oral use. An alternative name for the white rhinoceros, more accurate but rarely used, is the square-lipped rhinoceros. The white rhinoceros' generic name, Ceratotherium , given by the zoologist John Edward Gray in 1868, is derived from the Greek terms keras (κέρας) "horn" and thērion (θηρίον) "beast". Simum , is derived from the Greek term simos (σιμός), meaning "flat nosed". The white rhinoceros of today

4144-473: The rhinos were sedated and their horns were sawn off. This also made them less vulnerable to the poaching that drove their species to near extinction, as the horn is what the poachers are after. In place of their horns, radio transmitters have been installed to allow closer monitoring of their whereabouts. They are protected round-the-clock by armed guards. Poachers have been selling their horns for $ 110,000 per kilogram ($ 50,000 per pound). Since May 2010,

4218-624: The rhinos' sexual appetite, the zoo decided to send them back into their natural habitat in Kenya. The agreement with the Kenyan government expects the rhinos never to be returned to the Czech Republic. The female named Nabire stayed in Dvůr Králové Zoo, because, as Jan Stejskal, a projects coordinator at the zoo, stated, "she is no longer capable of breeding naturally. But it seems she has one healthy ovary and this could provide us with material from which to create an embryo in artificial conditions." Efforts to do so began in autumn 2014. Immediately after

4292-459: The seminal fluid from Saut and Suni. The male Sudan's sperm was harvested before his death and is still in Kenya. On 11 September 2019, it was announced that "two embryos" were generated and will be kept in a frozen state, until placed in a surrogate female. On 15 January 2020, it was announced that "another embryo" was created using the same techniques; all three embryos are "from Fatu". Most white rhinos in zoos are southern white rhinos; in 2021, it

4366-414: The sperm of the dead northern white rhino Suni, resulting in two viable embryos. No egg cells were retrieved from Najin. As of February 2024 , there are 30 northern white rhino embryos that have been created by BioRescue. The embryos are cryopreserved in labs in Berlin, Germany and Cremona, Italy. The BioRescue team plans to implant northern white rhino embryos in two southern white rhino surrogates by

4440-538: The subspecies. To achieve this, both female northern white rhinos were separated from their male counterparts, which prevented them from producing a pure northern white rhino offspring. In 2015, however, tests conducted by Czech specialists revealed that neither of the females are "capable of natural reproduction". According to the director of the Dvůr Králové Zoo, it was possible Najin became pregnant but miscarried shortly thereafter, which resulted in pathological changes in her uterus, preventing another impregnation. At

4514-624: The tail adding another 70 cm (28 in), and the shoulder height is 170–186 cm (5.58–6.10 ft) in the bull and 160–177 cm (5.25–5.81 ft) in the cow. The bull, averaging about 2,000–2,300 kg (4,410–5,070 lb) is heavier than the cow, at an average of about 1,600–1,700 kg (3,530–3,750 lb). The largest size the species can attain is not definitively known; specimens of up to 3,600 kg (7,940 lb) are considered reliable, while larger sizes up to 4,500 kg (9,920 lb) have been claimed but are not verified. On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind

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4588-416: The three extant species of elephant as the largest land animal and terrestrial mammal alive today. It weighs slightly more on average than a hippopotamus despite a considerable mass overlap between these two species. It has a massive body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. The head and body length is 3.7–4 m (12.1–13.1 ft) in bulls and 3.35–3.65 m (11.0–12.0 ft) in cows, with

4662-664: 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 rhinos in recent photographs, poachers can more easily find and kill their targets. The northern white rhino

4736-442: The two populations diverged between 0.46 and 0.97 million years ago and found their mitochondrial genomes to be 1.8 % divergent. Based on these findings, the study concluded that classification as a subspecies was appropriate. There are now only two northern white rhinos left in the world: They both belong to the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic , but live in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Africa. They arrived at

4810-521: The two remaining in the Czech Republic died in late May 2011. Both of the last two bulls capable of natural mating died in 2014 (one in Kenya on 18 October and one in San Diego on 15 December). In 2015, the Kenyan government placed the last remaining bull of the subspecies at Ol Pejeta under 24-hour armed guard to deter poachers, but he was put down on 19 March 2018 due to multiple health problems caused by old age, leaving just two cows alive which reside at

4884-538: The white rhinoceros is during the mid-Early Pleistocene at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, around 1.8 Ma. As of 2021, there were an estimated 15,940 southern white rhinos in the wild, making them by far the most abundant subspecies of rhino in the world. The number of southern white rhinos outnumbers all other rhino subspecies combined. South Africa is the stronghold for this subspecies, with 12,968 individuals recorded in 2021. There are smaller reintroduced populations within

4958-401: The widest set of nostrils of any land-based animal. The genome size of the white rhinoceros is 2581.22 Mb. A diploid cell has 2 x 40 autosomals and 2 sex chromosomes (XX or XY). White rhinos are grazing herbivores . They are found in grassland and savannah habitat. Preferring the shortest grains, the white rhinoceros is one of the largest pure grazers. It drinks twice a day if water

5032-507: The wild . Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Africa south of the Sahara , this subspecies is a grazer in grasslands and savanna woodlands. Initially, six northern white rhinoceros lived in the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. Four of the six rhinos (which were also the only reproductive animals of this subspecies) were transported to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, where scientists hoped they would successfully breed and save this subspecies from extinction. One of

5106-512: Was assumed that the three rhinos that were spotted belonged to the northern white rhinoceros subspecies, as black rhinos had not lived in the area for a long time and southern white rhinos never lived in southern Sudan. However, as of August 2011, no other sightings have been reported, and this population is now considered to have probably gone extinct. At the beginning of 2015, the fully captive northern white rhino population consisted of only two animals maintained in two zoological institutions: in

5180-557: Was documented on the initiative's website; and their life in Ol Pejeta Conservancy is commented on the Conservancy's website. Several documentaries are in the works, including an episode of Ol Pejeta Diaries titled "Return of the African Titans" for Oasis HD Canada in fall 2010, and a follow-up half-hour episode to follow. This translocation was also the subject of a special edition of the BBC's Last Chance to See , titled "Return of

5254-515: Was estimated that there were over 1,000 southern white rhinos in captivity worldwide. 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. However, for reasons that are not currently understood, the rate of reproduction is extremely low among captive-born southern white females. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park in San Diego, California, United States, had two northern white rhinos, one of which

5328-539: Was reported that scientists were exploring alternatives (such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer) to develop northern white rhino embryos and implant them in female southern white rhinos at the San Diego Zoo. *estimate Early Pleistocene 'Tarantian' is an informal, unofficial name proposed for a stage/age to replace the equally informal, unofficial 'Upper Pleistocene' subseries/subepoch. In Europe and North America,

5402-498: Was said to be likely descended from Ceratotherium praecox , which lived around 7 million years ago. Remains of this white rhino have been found at Langebaanweg near Cape Town . A review of fossil rhinos in Africa by Denis Geraads has suggested, however, that the species from Langebaanweg is of the genus Ceratotherium , but not Ceratotherium praecox , as the type specimen of Ceratotherium praecox should, in fact, be Diceros praecox , given that it shows closer affinities with

5476-689: Was wild-caught. On 22 November 2015, a 41-year-old female named Nola (born in 1974), which had been on loan from the Dvůr Králové Zoo in Dvůr Králové, Czech Republic) since 1989, was euthanized after experiencing a downturn in health. On 14 December 2014, a 44-year-old male named Angalifu died of old age at the San Diego Zoo. The other four captive northern white rhinos were loaned to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, and only two remain alive. Females Najin and Fatu are still living, while males Suni and Sudan died in 2014 and 2018, respectively. The northern white rhinos had been transferred to Ol Pejeta Conservancy from

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