West African Black Rhinoceros Facts

The West African black rhinoceros, although referred to as 'black,' actually displays a range of colors from brown to grey. One of its most distinctive features is its horns, which are used for defense, intimidation, and digging into roots and breaking branches during feeding. Interestingly, some black rhinos may develop a third, smaller horn.

The longest recorded black rhino horn measured nearly 4.9 feet in length, while the two horns on the skull are composed of keratin. The larger front horn can reach up to 20 inches in length, with exceptional cases reaching as long as 55 inches.

Males are generally larger than females, and an adult black rhinoceros typically reaches a shoulder height of 55-71 inches and weighs between 1760-3090 pounds.

There have been several subspecies of the West African black rhinoceros that have become extinct over time. These include the Diceros brucii, which once roamed central Sudan, Eritrea, northern and southern Ethiopia, Djibouti, and northern and southeastern Somalia, as well as the Diceros bicornis, which was once abundant in South Africa.

In total, there are seven or eight recognized subspecies of the black rhinoceros, with three having become extinct in ancient times and one currently threatened with extinction. The species was first named Rhinoceros bicornis by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

Conservation efforts have helped to increase black rhino numbers in recent years, but they remain critically endangered due to poaching for their horns. The black rhinoceros is the smaller of the two African rhino species and is also known as the hook-lipped rhinoceros.

West african black rhinoceros facts