Black Rhinoceros

 Solitary and sometimes very aggressive, the Black Rhinoceros can generally be found in isolated pockets of thick African brush in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It grows up to twelve feet long and six feet high and weighing up to three thousand pounds. The black rhinoceros is classified as a critically endangered species due to a reduction of at least 80% of the black rhinoceros population over the last 50 years. 

The Black Rhinoceros was killed for sport during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rhinoceros horn dagger handles created a high price demand during the 1970s. The hostile animal also made for exciting hunting and its horn was sought for use in traditional Asian medicine. The major  threat today is the heavy demand for rhinoceros horn for use in traditional Asian medicines. In 1994, a kilogram of horn was estimated to be worth approximately US$60,000 on the Asian market.

Eastern Black Rhinoceros

The eastern black rhinoceros is one of four sub-species; about 500 eastern; 1500 south central or southern, 740 southwestern, and 10 western black rhinos, all living in Africa. The eastern black rhino, Diceros bicornis michaeli, mostly occur in Kenya, with a few in neighboring Tanzania and Rwanda, and about 30 that were moved to South Africa's Addo Elephant National Park in the 1950s. The eastern black rhino is 10 to 12 feet long, up to 5 feet high at the shoulder, and weighs one to two tons. Black rhinos are endangered primarily as a result of poaching of their horns as an ingredient in traditional medicines in Asia and as a ritual dagger handle by young men in Yemen.  From an estimated 65,000 black rhinos in the 1970s, the number of black rhinos dropped to about 2,300 in 1993, primarily due to poaching

Want to see endangered the Black Rhinoceros in it's natural habitat?

Attention Rhino Keepers !

Black Rhinoceros Conservation Links

African Rhino Owners Association - conserving endangered wildlife, especially the black and white rhino.

DragonRidge - non-profit site for the conservation of all rhino; links to other rhino sites.

International Rhino Foundation - IRF is dedicated to the conservation of the five species of rhinoceros.

Rhino and Elephant Foundation - working to protect rhinos and elephants in southern Africa from the threat of extinction.

Save the Rhino International - helps to save the rhino through a range of fundraising adventures, challenges, and activities.

Sebakwe Black Rhino Trust - securing a black rhino conservancy in the Midlands of Zimbabwe to protect a breeding group of black rhino under free range conditions from poachers.

SOS Rhino - part of the non-profit Rhinoceros Reproduction Program with objectives to focus worldwide attention on the endangered rhino

 These  Rhinoceros species are also endangered

• SQUARE-LIPPED RHINOCEROS

• WHITE RHINOCEROS

• NORTHERN WHITE RHINOCEROS

• SOUTHERN WHITE RHINOCEROS

• SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS

• HOOK-LIPPED RHINOCEROS

• SOUTH-WESTERN BLACK RHINOCEROS

• WESTERN BLACK RHINOCEROS

• EASTERN BLACK RHINOCEROS

• SOUTH-CENTRAL BLACK RHINOCEROS

• JAVAN RHINOCEROS

• GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS