![]() ![]() The 2 remaining white rhinos live at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Nola, a 41-year-old female, died in 2015. San Diego Zoo Safari Park was the last zoo in the world to have northern white rhinos in its collections.94 southern white rhinos born at the Wild Animal Park between 19.Easy target of poachers due to poor eyesight.Known for mutualistic relationships with oxpecker, drongo, and egret birds.Males highly territorial use urine to mark territory boundaries.Typically rest lying down, rather than standing.Second largest land mammal largest rhino.Managed care: median life expectancy of about 36 years Predators: Humans young may be vulnerable to lions. Females with calves or unrelated adolescents. At night, alternate between resting and feeding Locomotion: Fairly sedentary do not disperse very rapidlyĪctivity Cycle: Most active (feeding) early morning and late afternoon rest during midday. simum (southern) - approximately 20,000 individuals cottoni (northern) - 2 individuals remaining simum from South Africa Appendix II all other populations of both subspecies Appendix I IUCN Status: Near Threatened (2011 assessment)ĬITES Appendix: C. Habitat: Grasslands and savannahs do not like closed forest or thick brush. simum: predominantly in South Africa few dispersed across 6 other south African countries cottoni: last remaining sighted in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2008 Range: Disjunct populations in east-central Africa and southern Africa Horns: Two horns on rostrum, one in front of the other Pelage: Hair only at tip of tail and fringes of ears All rights reserved.īody Length (head body): 360-420 cm (12-14 ft) Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The parasite carrying animal on the other hand also has no idea of the important function it’s serving for the birds, when it actual fact it is behaving like a sort of mobile buffet.Northern White Rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) Without the animal hosting the tick, the oxpecker would have to hunt for its food, more than likely not being as successful and possibly affecting the success of the species as a whole. ![]() Most of an oxpeckers diet is made up of ticks (primarily the blood found in the ticks), and therefore relies on the animals to feed. By pulling the parasites off they’re helping to clean the animals, often in places they can’t reach themselves and more than likely preventing them from picking up diseases that these ticks may carry. One may say that the bird has no clue how much it is helping the giraffe or zebra and that it is merely just feeding itself but nevertheless it is helping to perform some very important functions. Most times their main targets are the ticks that have made their way onto the hides of the unsuspecting animal. Often laughed at and thought to be catching a free ride, these birds are doing so much more than just this. What the bird is actually doing is cleaning the animal of the parasites that are living off of it. If you look carefully you’ll notice at any given time there is usually a little bird, or group of birds, sitting on the animals. Watching a dazzle of zebra or a journey of giraffe, which is quite spectacular on its own, there is also often something else interesting going on which tends to go unnoticed by us observers. The oxpeckers feast on the blood-filled ticks for nourishment and inadvertently help the giraffe by removing the bothersome parasites. There are more than likely hundreds more examples that I can rattle off about but there is one in particular that I always love to see…Ī group of red-billed oxpeckers feed on ticks on the neck of a giraffe. ![]() All these things need each other to exist, being completely reliant on the existence of the other to survive, and therefore are because of each other. I see Ubuntu in many different things out in the bush, from the simplicity of an elephant eating a tree and then transporting some of the seeds to a new destination through its dung, to the more intricate fig wasp, which is the size of a match head, being the only pollinator of a massive fig tree. One of the lessons I’ve learnt and been exposed to on a daily basis is the spirit of Ubuntu. Working in the bush I’ve learnt so many lessons from nature, some of which are extremely evident, whilst others require one to look a little deeper to see what’s being taught. The concept of Ubuntu lies at the very core of the first cultures to establish themselves in Southern Africa, referring to humanity and how one person is because of someone else or a group. ![]()
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