1. Class: Mammalia

2. Order: Perissodactyla

3. Family: Rhinocerotidae

4. Genus Species: Diceros bicornis

5. Size: 1.5 to 1.9 m (5 - 6 ft) tall at shoulder; 3.1 to 3.7 m long (10 - 12 feet)

6. Weight: 950 - 1,800 pounds; females are smaller

7. Description:
Not black at all, the black rhino probably derives its name from the dark coloured local soil covering its skin from wallowing and/or as a distinction from the misnamed white rhino. Large stocky animal, naturally grey in colour but will often take the colour of the local soil, two facial horns and a prehensile lip. The upper lip of the black rhino who is a browser is adapted for feeding from trees and shrubs and is the best distinguishing characteristics.

8. Life Span: 25 to 40 years

9. Reproduction:
Males 7 - 9 years; females 4 - 6 years achieving sexual maturity. Females give birth to a single calf weighing 143 pounds. The calf will stay with its mother until her next offspring is born. If threatened, the mother will guard over her baby. Breeding season is throughout the year with peaks in spring and fall. Time between births can be as brief as 22 months, but usually varies between 2 - 4 years.

10. Gestation: 16 - 19 months

11. Habitat:
Semi-desert, bushy plains with thick covers, rugged hills, and scrubs lands with mud wallows, grasslands, montane savanna and rain forest up to 3500 m (11,500 feet) for example, the bushlands of Zimbabwe

12. Diet:
All rhinos are herbivores, living off various types of foliage. Rhinos drink water from watering holes almost daily. However, when conditions are dry, they can survive four or five days without water.

13. Predator:
Rhinos are endangered by poaching for their horns, loss of habitat, fragmented populations and loss of genetic diversity. Young rhinos are often preyed by large carnivores such as lions and hyenas.

14. Endangered Status:
All species of the rhinoceros (White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan ) are endangered. Wild population: 2,400 Captive population: 210

15. Special features/Specialization:
Rhinos have very poor eyesight. In fact they cannot see a person standing motionless if they are more than 100 feet away. Since its eyes are of opposite sides of its head, the rhinoceros must look with one eye at a time to see straight ahead. Their ears can rotate to pick up sounds, resulting in fairly good hearing. However, rhinos most relies on its sense of smell. In fact, the part of the body responsible for smell (the olfactory passages) is larger than its entire brain. Black rhinos have a prehensile lip that is used much like a finger to select and pick the leaves and twigs they prefer.

16. Social Organization:
Rhinos are solitary animals, although a mother will stay near her most recent offspring until the next offspring is born. Black rhinos travel alone except while breeding or raising offspring.

17. Conservation Status:
The black rhino has suffered the most spectacular rate of decline of all rhino species. Between 1970 and 1992, the species suffered a 96% reduction in population. In 1970, it was estimated that there were approximately 65,000 black rhinos and by 1992-93, there were only about 2,300 surviving in Africa. However, since 1996, the intense anti-poaching efforts have had encouraging results and numbers have been recovering and are now back to about 2,700 and still increasing. Nevertheless, poaching remains great and there is no cause for complacency. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) is a non-profit corporation of institutions and individuals worldwide whose sole purpose s dedicated to the conservation of five species of rhinoceros - Black, White, Sumatran, Javan and Indian. Listed by USFWS as endangered and protected by CITES

18. Behaviors:
The black rhino is unpredictable and can be dangerous, sometimes charging a disturbing sound or smell, for example, a vehicle or campfire. However, it usually runs away if it detects the smell of a person. Black rhinos are solitary animals only coming together to mate. Rhinos are accompanied by tick birds, and cattle egrets which feed on insects stirred up by the rhinos' feet. Rhinos sleep during the hottest hours of the day; otherwise browsing for food.

19. Population Areas:
Sub-saharan Africa; isolated areas of central and southern Africa. Largest concentrations occur now in Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, S. Africa and Zimbabwe. Numbers estimated 2,500 in the wild (65,000 just 20 years ago).