“The white rhino is an ambassador to the wildlife conservation worldwide, but little is actually known about them. The lady rhino I painted was named Hope, she was saved after her horns were savagely cut off by poachers. She underwent several surgeries and facial reconstruction, but did not make it and died a few months later. This rhino is a symbol of what humans are able to do in terms of good and evil.”

— Karine Forestié

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Habitat

The northern white rhino once occurred in southern Chad, the Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and northwestern Uganda. They inhabit the grassland and open savanna woodlands, and swampy regions.

Family Life

White rhinos are sedentary, semi-social and territorial. Adult bulls are basically solitary and associate only with females in oestrus. Stable groups (also known as 'crashes') of up to six animals can be commonly observed. Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years. Their single calf does not live on its own until it is about three years old. Rhinos are also wallowers where they find suitable water holes and roll in its mud, coating their skin to be a natural bug repellent and sunblock. White rhinos can communicate vocally, using a wide range of sounds from calf squeaking to snarling or wailing of adults. They also have poor eyesight, but acute senses of hearing and smell.

Lifespan

They can live up to 50 years.

Hunting Habits/Diet

The white rhinos are herbivores and will never eat any form of meat. They spend most of their time browsing and/or grazing through their natural habitat in search of plants and grasses to eat. They are known to eat a wide variety of different fruits, stems, twigs, grasses and leaves. The White Rhinoceros is capable of going 4 or 5 days without water.

Population

Just three white rhinos are known to exist in the wild, at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Fun Fact

Despite their huge size and bulkiness, white rhinos can run as fast as 40 miles per hour. They are very agile and can turn quickly in a very small space.

Why are they Endangered?

White rhinos have two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Many have been killed for this hard, hair-like growth, which is revered for medicinal use in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The horn is also valued in North Africa and the Middle East as an ornamental dagger handle.

Status

Near Threatened