Black rhinoceros declared extinct? Black rhinoceros: photo, description

Despite the fact that now scientists are trying to do everything to preserve endangered species of animals, still the most unusual representatives of unique creatures disappear every year. Thus, humanity has lost a unique giant, and today - in 2013 - you can safely say that the black rhino has died out. For several decades this species was tried to be preserved, but poachers and other criminals were quicker, and the extraordinary animal disappeared forever from the face of the Earth. The history of rhinoceroses has hundreds of years, during which they peacefully existed in the savannahs and on the green continents.

A black rhinoceros appeared in Africa, and originally there were two species of this animal: white and black. It is noteworthy that the skin color of both is gray. Differences in their names depended on those places where the giants lived, or rather - on the color and composition of the earth. As you know, rhinoceroses like to roll in the mud, and, accordingly, the soil, which was more clay, gave the skin of the animal a white shade.

Description

Black rhino is a large animal, whose weight reached two tons, and its length was more than 3 meters (at a height of 1.5 meters). Despite the fact that we are used to the fact that a capricious giant has only one horn on his head, in fact, African animals usually had 2, and sometimes 5. The front horn was the largest, and its length sometimes reached half a meter. In history there were individuals whose main tusk reached a length of more than a meter. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, black rhinos had a huge number, and they were the most common inhabitants of the savannah. These amazing animals lived in the central, eastern and southern parts of Africa.

The way of life and the behavior of rhinoceroses

Rhinoceroses fed on young shoots of bushes, perfectly tolerated the heat. At watering the animals went very far, sometimes overcoming the distance of 8-10 km. In his way of life, a black rhinoceros, rather, was a loner.

Pregnancy in the female lasted about 15-16 months, and only one baby was born, which for several years was fed by mother's milk.

Black rhinoceroses slept where they were comfortable, because their huge size allowed them not to be afraid of anyone. Slept the giants on their sides or bent their legs under him. It used to be that animals label the territory, leaving huge heaps of manure. In fact, this happened spontaneously, without any reason. Black rhinoceroses were grazing day and night at any convenient time.

The only danger for the rhino was represented by lions, which sometimes attacked young cubs. But most often predators suffered themselves, since in a fight, even with one rhino, there was little chance of winning. The rhinoceroses, however, are very shortsighted and sluggish. This played against them when poachers attacked. Even being a short distance from a person or tree, the animals could not recognize it. But the rhinoceros hearing is well developed. Some hunters noted the ability of awkward fat men for a kilometer to smell danger and successfully hide.

A distinctive feature of the giants, of course, was their irascible nature. Being in a seemingly calm state, in a second the rhinoceros could get mad and start rushing at the workers of the zoo or reserve. Often there were cases when during their travels, tourists on safari encountered an aggressive animal that literally turned their car. Despite its slowness and clumsiness, a rhinoceros can develop a speed of up to 45 kilometers per hour or more. So in a fair fight he always wins. It is known that sometimes rhinoceros encounter elephants, and usually these "fights" end fatalities for one of the rivals. Most often, the reason for the dispute is the reluctance of one of the giants to yield to another road. And, despite the fact that the elephant is much larger, his opponent always had a pretty impressive weapon. As you know, the length of the horn of a black rhinoceros was at least 0.5 meters, so it could cause a larger animal serious injuries.

There were four subspecies of this individual.

South-central black rhinoceros

The habitat of this animal is from the central part of North Africa to the eastern part of South Africa. The largest number of individuals could be found in the southern region. In fact, this subspecies exists, but has already been listed in the Red Book, and its condition is currently assessed as critical.

South-west black rhinoceros

This subspecies of rhinoceroses is most suitable for living in arid areas. Animals lived in Namibia and Angola, South-East, South-West and South Africa. At the moment, the subspecies is also on the verge of extinction.

East African rhinoceros

Historically, this subspecies was located in the territory of Southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. Now some representatives of the East African rhinoceros can be found in Kenya, but the number of individuals is reduced to a minimum every year, and now they are in critical condition.

West African black rhinoceros

Recall that the African black rhinoceros to date completely disappeared and officially declared extinct. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of this species was only a few individuals, and scientists tried to keep them until the last. After research in 2006, specialists failed to find any representative of the West African black rhinoceros. Therefore, in 2011 this subspecies was officially recognized as disappeared.

What caused the disappearance of rhinoceroses?

First of all, this is all due to the active activity of poachers in Africa, who sell not only meat and hide of these amazing animals, but actively hunt for their unique horns, whose value on the black market is a very impressive amount.

According to the comments of scientists, the main reason for the complete extinction of the black rhino and the potential extinction of white is the negligence of the state in protecting the giants in their habitats. Annually in Africa there are more and more criminal groups that continue to exterminate the already scarce numbers of rhinoceroses and other endangered species.

According to the latest research of biologists, at the moment on the verge of extinction were and white rhinos, also living in northern Africa. If in the near future no measures are taken to preserve the population of these giants, then very soon there will simply not remain these amazing animals in the world. Black rhinoceros (photos are presented in the article) is truly an unprecedented creation of nature, and it is unfortunate that now it can be seen only in pictures.

Conclusion

It is sad, but for today on our planet about 40 species of animals are in critical condition or on the verge of extinction. If humanity continues to mercilessly destroy the amazing representatives of nature, then in the near future they simply will not remain. Despite the fact that there is an active struggle against poachers now, hunter groups are constantly destroying unique animals. Criminals acquire more and more advanced equipment and weapons for catching even the largest individuals. At the moment, the black rhinoceros are declared extinct, but on Earth there are many more representatives of the subspecies of this giant, which you can still try to preserve.