Wildlife Africa- White Rhino Behavior

HABITAT	Open undulating woodland with plenty of grass and permanent water, is the ideal habitat for White Rhinos.
HABITS	Being more sociable than Black Rhino, the White Rhino is commonly seen in groups of about 10 to 15 individuals, in a well organized social structure. At the top there is the territorial bull who will defend, patrol and mark the territory. One or more adult and several subadult bulls, may be allowed to live in this territory, provided they show submissive behavior in the presence of the territorial bull. He marks his territory by spray urinating, scattering his dung at the middens and grasping his feet along the ground. Cows and the other bulls, are not allowed to do this. Fighting amongst White Rhino bulls, is a very noisy affair, but normally never fatal. They have very good hearing and a good sense of smell, but their eyesight is very poor. Male White Rhinos can attain a mass of about 2500 Kg. and females about 1700 Kg. Their life-span is about 30 years.
DIET	As a grazer they take any kind of grass, preferring the short ones.
BREEDING	Sexual maturity is reached at about 6 years of age, and one calf is born once every three years, after a gestation period of about 16 months. At birth the calf weights between 45 and 55 Kg. On the move, the calf always precedes his mother.

ORDER	FAMILY	Scientific name
Perissodactyla	Rhinocerotidae	Ceratotherium simum (Burchell,1817)