The Black Rhino
By: Rohina Aslam
Characteristics
The Black rhino is a wonderful creature towering at least 180 off the ground. Black rhinos usually have two long tusks which are made of keratin (the same thing your teeth are made of) in the front of their face that they use to defend themselves. They also have a thick layer of skin that protects them from thorns and other sharp objects. The black rhino also has poor eyesight but a great sense of smell and hearing.
Home
The black rhinos tend to live in the savannas in several regions of Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya. They aren't very territorial and tend to be independent except during mating season. They black rhino doesn't necessarily have any predators because of their massive size and thick skin.
Community Interactions
Although rhinos have been known for their aggressive behavior they only fight within their own species. The rhinoceros have a mutual relation ship with oxpeckers and egrets because they birds live on the rhino and eat the various parasites on the rhino such as mites and ticks. As I stated before the rhino is really hunted by any one, maybe the occasional tiger or crocodile will catch it, but very rarely. The rhinos are herbivores and only eat grass and plants.
Reasons for extinction
The main reason for instinction is because of illegal poaching of the black rhino for its tusks and also for the loss of habitat, but on a lesser scale. The black rhino was added to the endangered list in the later half of the twentieth century because the sales of the increase of poaching.
Bibliography
"Black Rhinoceros." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
"Rhinoceros." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
"The Scorpion and the Frog: The Craptastic Conversations of the Black Rhinoceros." The Scorpion and the Frog: The Craptastic Conversations of the Black Rhinoceros. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
"Where Does the Black Rhino Live?" - Ask.com. Ask.com, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.