Population Estimates of Black Rhinoceros from Various Sources

DataSet Animal(s) : Black Rhinoceros
DataSet Category : Mammals
DataSet Country : Kenya
DataSet Region : Across the World, Africa
DataSet Type : Survey
DataSet Access : Public
DataSet URL : http://www.animalinfo.org/species/artiperi/dicebico.htm#Population

DataSet Date : January 1, 1960

The black rhino weighs 800 – 1400 kg (1760 – 3080 lb). Its height varies from 1.3 – 1.8 m (4.3 – 5.9′). The black rhino has 2 horns.  Its skin is dark yellow-brown to dark brown or dark gray. The black rhino occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from desert areas in Namibia to wetter forested areas in the highlands of Kenya, to savannas and bushveld areas where the highest densities of black rhino occur. T

Black rhinos are predominantly solitary, the most commonly observed groups being lone males or adult females with young. Black rhinos that share a part or all or their range exhibit a familiarity with one another instead of the aggression that they exhibit to total strangers.

The black rhino was formerly found in suitable habitat over most of Africa south of the Sahara, from southwestern Angola across the Cape Province up to East Africa and north, avoiding the Congo Basin and its rain forests, to Somalia and southwestern Ethiopia, then westward along a strip between the Sahara and the Congo and Nigerian forests to the region of Lake Chad. Their population suffered an enormous reduction from a probable several hundred thousand at the start of the 20th century to less than 2,500 by the early 1990s. However, since 1995, black rhino numbers at a continental level have started increasing again. Hunting and clearance of land for settlement and agriculture were the major reasons for the decline of black rhino populations in the 20th century. The situation facing the black rhino is still critical. The demand for rhino horn from Asia (for traditional medicines) and from the Middle East (for dagger handles) persists, and the threat of a return to large-scale poaching is still present.

DataSet Agency : Animal Info. and Endangered Animals

DataSet Agency Contact : http://www.animalinfo.org/