Idea #536 – Racing with White Rhinos in Etosha
The white Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is the only current species of the Ceratotherium genre, one of the four genres of rhinoceros. The skin of the white rhinocéros is grey, slightly clearer than that of rblack hinoceros. A frequent explanation on the origin of the naming of “white rhinoceros” would be a linguistic confusion on the Dutch word “wijde “(“wide” in English) which describes the shape of its lip which distinguishes it from other species of rhinoceros. It would have passed in Afrikaans under the shape “wit”, then in English with “white.
The length of the white rhinocéros can go to 4 m, its height in the withers is about 1,90 m and its weight goes of 2 up to 3 tons, what makes it the biggest of all the species of rhinocéros. Its horn is the longest of every rhinoceros, it averages 65 cms, exceptionally 1,50 m. It is different from the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) by its big sharp ears, its wide and shortened snout and a characteristic protuberance on the neck. It is also distinguishing by the fact that it grazes of the grass, whereas the black rhinoceros feeds on tree leaves; so both species can coexist within the same ecosystem.
The sense of smell is the most important sense of the white Rhino. Its ears and eyes play on the contrary a secondary role. As the black rhinoceros, it is hardly if he can recognize something by more than twenty meters, what does it quickly nervous in an unknown environment or near human beings. Rhinoceros can reach important speeds in spite of their mass, up to 50 kph for the fastest.
Where is it?
Etosha National Park, Namibia
