Though the black rhinoceros looks like one of the fiercest animals in Africa, it will peacefully munch plants all day-as long as it's left alone. This two-ton mammal turns into a raging beast when other animals enter its territory. It charges enemies at high speeds and delivers a deadly blow with the huge horns on its snout. If a rhino has to fight it out with an enemy, it also has the advantage of incredibly thick skin that gives it protection against African predators-plus it makes the rhino bug-proof from biting insects.
Tough Upper Lip: The black rhino's upper lip is triangular, strong and flexible. This mammal can use its lip to grip branches and rip leaves off of plants, the same way an elephant uses its trunk.
Longhorn: This rhino looks intimidating because of its size, and even more so with two sharp horns on its snout. The front horn can grow up to four feet long and can fatally wound enemies; this rhino can even send a lion flipping into the air!
Do Not Disturb[]
The black rhino charges at full speed when anything enters its territory.
The black rhinoceros usually roams quietly through its territory, but this beast has a zero tolerance policy for intruders. The beast can't see clearly beyond 100 feet in front of its face, so letting potential predators get near. At the slightest sign of a trespasser, the rhino will charge straight at any potential enemy, reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour! Being trounced by this brute's two-ton body can be fatal for many animals, especially if the rhino lands a blow with its sharp horns.
Thick Skin: The black rhino has an extra shield from dangers in the wild. This creature's skin is like a suit of armor-it's rough on the outside and a full inch thick on the inside, protecting it from the claws and bites of potential predators.
Rhino Crossing: This beast often barges through areas of thick vegetation, knocking down shrubs and even small trees with brute force. This sometimes creates paths, called "rhino runs," that the rhino will frequently use to quickly move through its territory.
Black and White[]
The black rhino is big, but it has a cousin that's even bigger. At six feet tall and tipping the scales at up to 8,000 pounds, the white rhino is the size of a hippo! Neither beast was named for its color, though. The white rhino's name comes from a mistranslation of the Dutch word, "weit," which actually means wide, referring to the rhino's mouth. The black rhino was named after Africa's Black Umfolozi River, where many of the creatures live.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The knowledge card is titled Black Rhino. The trading card is titled Black Rhinoceros.
- This is one of the only cases where the trading card's name is longer than the knowledge card's. The only other example of this is the Crown of Thorns.
- While the card does not share any images with the black rhino's card in Wildlife Explorers itself, it does use the back illustration for the white rhino's card in the "Black and White" portion of the knowledge card.
- The black rhino is mentioned on several other cards:
- Alongside the obvious Woolly Rhinoceros, rhinos in general are mentioned as close modern relatives of the Chalicotherium, Indricotherium, and Brontotherium on their knowledge cards.
- The generic 'rhino' used as a comparison for the size of the Entelodont on the pig relative's trading card, the Hyaenodon on its knowledge card, and for the prehistoric diprotodon, a prey animal of the Thylacoleo, on the marsupial's knowledge card.
- The Spotted Hyena knowledge card mentions the hyena being able to crunch through their bones.
- The black rhino is featured in Know Your Noses on Monster Mania 86.
- The black rhino is one of three hoofed African herbivores in the Nightmares of Nature category, along with the Hippopotamus and African Buffalo.