Talk:Black rhinoceros

Western Black Rhino Extinct

How sad. BBC News. JF Mephisto 17:13, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

I see on Swedish news that it is exterminated now. :-(

Only the West African subspecies is covered by that study. Surely the taxobox shouldn't list "extinct" for the whole species. --Kostia 18:57, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

This is not an extinct species. Can someone please revert to the correct Status?

The misunderstanding here is that it is only the West African sub-species species (Diceros bicornis longipes) that is believed to be extinct. There are at least 3 other African species of black rhino (diceros bicornis minor, diceros bicornis bicornis, and diceros bicornis michaeli). Not making this detail clear suggests to the average reader that all Black Rhinos are extinct. This should really be clarified because many people might not read all the way to the bottom of the article where the Population section is. --Johnsm2 23:26, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

I find it hard to believe that this article could be included on the WikiCD considering the horrendous grammar it contained. I took the time to make it more clear, correct, and professional, but honestly...some people have no grasp of verb tense.

Milk.hermit 17:52, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

ultra sound communication

I saw on discovery that the rhino can sense ultra sound communication using their feet. when a rhino stamps it's foot, it actually sends a message over 30km far. Can anyone validate this ? Kendirangu 09:50, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

hey they can run up to 50 miles per hour —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.64.246 (talk) 04:07, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Does it say anything on the Discovery website about that? if it does- as long as you reference it- you could add it to the page.Lemming42 (talk) 23:35, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Even better would be to cite the program name and episode if one could find it. I did a fairly quick search and couldn't come up with very much. Rhinos can swivel their ears to focus on sound, and their sense of hearing is definitely more acute than their sense of sight. Depending on how acute that sense of hearing really is, I suppose ultrasonic communication is possible to combat their poor eyesight. Still no references though. --Poet  Talk  06:11, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Predators

"Adult Black Rhinos have no natural predators, outside of an unverified incident of a huge Nile crocodile taking one down."

I found an incident of killing it by lions.

Similar case was reported in Animal Park - Wild in Africa (season 2) on Animal Planet.

Maybe we can mention it too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.37.232.165 (talk) 04:36, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Adult Black Rhinos, for the most have no natural predators. However, there are some rare cases of large lion prides that are known to kill big prey such as Rhinos and Elephants. Also, the term "natural predator" is very misleading. Are all humans considered unnatural predators? There are two types of poaching when it comes to hunting wild animals. There are some cases were people with fancy equipment kill the animal for its resources (horns, skin, etc.) and sell them abroad for a large sum of money. In other cases poaching comes from different indigenous tribes who either use the animal for food or kill it for the purpose of pride within their community. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.173.215.34 (talk) 00:29, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

I think we can agree that no creature on this Earth has "no" natural predators, because as you say, the term is misleading. If one animal kills another in a single incident, does this mean it is a natural predator to the animal that was hunted? I would say that any animal (including humans) that is frequently known to hunt another animal (for food resource or otherwise) could be known as a natural predator. This should definitely include humans in general. In this case, an incident of a lion killing a rhino is hardly evidence that lions are a natural predator of rhinos in my opinion. --Poet  Talk  06:17, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

black rhinos are found in the sout of africa they eat all kinds of plants but little grass but a white rhino eats loads of grass go to you tube and type in hips dont lie xxxxxx bbz —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.150.193.167 (talk) 10:24, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

black rhino

the taxonomy: scientific name:(diceros biconnis) kingdom:animalia phylum:chordata class:mammalia order:perissodactyla family:rinocerotidae genus:diceros species:dibcornis common name:rhino

the anatomy: how long:3.75 meters weight:4,500 pounds

natural history: life span:in the wild up to 30 to 40 days life span captivity:35 years the oldest recorded animal lived 44 years a mounth in a zoo —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shardonia miller (talk • contribs) 18:01, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

the taxonomy

scientific name:(diceros biconnis) kingdom:animalia phylum:chordata class:mammalia order:perissodactyla family:rinocerotidae genus:diceros species:dibcornis common name:rhino

'Afrikaans word wyd, itself derived from the Dutch word wijd for wide' what is the use of including the Dutch derivation? The Dutch word is no doubt derived from something else which is derived from some other language. Afrikaans is a South African language in itself, there is no need to have Dutch meanings back it up? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.85.21.66 (talk) 13:04, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

the anatomy

how long:3.75 meters weight:4,500 pounds

natural history

life span:in the wild up to 30 to 40 days life span captivity:35 years the oldest recorded animal lived 44 years a mounth in a zoo. estimate population:inn the past:2,410 estimate population in the present:65,000

            all dont thank you for leting me use the wkiapidia  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shardonia miller (talk • contribs) 20:48, 8 April 2010 (UTC) 

Subspecies is still extant in zoos

Hi yes it is not fully extinct thank God. I'll go on a search and see what other sources I can find. Even my own home zoo has the black rhinos so I'll see what other zoos in the U.S. have the animals. It's unbelievable to see in this age to see a large mammal go extinct and the national parks in Africa should be ashamned.Mcelite (talk) 15:42, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

You'll need a reliable source to put that in the article. The IUCN does have an "extinct in the wild" category but the Western Black Rhino is quite clearly labelled "extinct" instead [1]. Of the other two sources cited [2] doesn't mention the subspecies and [3] is about the Eastern Black Rhino (a different subspecies). You need to find a zoo which specifically has western black rhinos, not black rhinos of a different subspecies or animals just labelled "black rhino". Hut 8.5 17:23, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Looks like there are none in European zoos [4]. Aaadddaaammm (talk) 10:52, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Yeah my apologies I had the wrong subspecies in mind I was thinking of the eastern. As heartbreaking as it is the subspecies as a whole may truly be gone. It's hard to believe but I'll be able to continue a sweep of American zoos maybe tomorrow. It just seems mind blowing ot think of a an extinct at this level in this day of age.Mcelite (talk) 02:18, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

the national parks in Africa should be ashamned??? What about the Westerners who will stop at nothing to get hold of it's horn? What has America done apart from steal innocent animals from the wild for their cruel and disgusting zoos? It would be better to shoot the creature quickly, than have entrepreneurs who know nothing about them line their own pockets from the last specimens in a zoo. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.85.21.66 (talk) 13:08, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/09/120909-elephants-ivory-rangers-need-help/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.85.21.66 (talk) 21:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Conservation Status & Semi Protection

I have requested a temporary semi-protection of the page due to IP users changing the conservation status away from critically endangered - which remains the classification for the species as a whole. It seems there is some unceartinty about the status of the subspecies - whether there are individuals remaining in captivity, but this doesn't change the overall classification - there are black rhino remaining in the wild. Is there perhaps a clearer method for showing the status of the subspecies that could also avoid this confusion?

Fish (talk) 17:38, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

The subspecies is already marked with a cross in the infobox to denote extinction. I suppose we could change that to the word "extinct" if that's not clear enough. Hut 8.5 18:19, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Communication

How can we write that a "wonk" is different than a "mmwonk" (and, worse yet, specify the meaning of each sound) without some sort of citation? If it has been researched and agreed upon by biologists, zoologists, or whoever makes this type of decision, then fine; but there should be a reference to this work. psycherhexic (talk) 09:04, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

File:Diceros bicornis MNHN.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Diceros bicornis MNHN.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on September 24, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-09-24. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng {chat} 06:13, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Picture of the day

The skull of a black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), a critically endangered species of rhinoceros native to eastern and central Africa. The two horns on the skull are made of keratin, with the larger front horn typically 50 cm (20 in) long. Sometimes, a third, smaller horn may develop.Photo: Jebulon

File:Ngorongoro Spitzmaulnashorn edit1.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Ngorongoro Spitzmaulnashorn edit1.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on November 23, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-11-23. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng {chat} 07:29, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

Picture of the day

The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is a species of rhinoceros. It is actually more of a dark grey color than black, and is really only distinguishable from the white rhinoceros by the shape of its upper lip. It is classified as critically endangered, and one subspecies, the western black rhinoceros, was declared extinct by the IUCN in 2011.Photo: Ikiwaner

Black Rhinoceros endangerment.

Hello, a recent post has declared that the western black rhinoceros is extinct : http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45236688/ns/world_news-world_environment/t/africas-western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/#.UXg2nispaA0, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/10/world/africa/rhino-extinct-species-report, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15663982, http://www.significancemagazine.org/details/webexclusive/1395091/The-Western-Black-Rhino-goes-extinct_.html

please change the status from ce (critically endangered) to extinct (ex)

Thankyou 178.192.219.224 (talk) 19:48, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

The western black rhinoceros is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros. The article already says in the lead that the western black rhinoceros is extinct. This is not a new development, the links you posted date from 2011. The "critically endangered" classification is factually correct [5] and refers to the black rhinoceros as a whole, not the western black rhinoceros. Hut 8.5 19:54, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Why is does the article suggest the horn may have health benefits which it should clearly state that Rhino horn has no medical effects whatsoever over an aspirin?

The most absurd thing in the whole sorry saga of rhino poaching is that rhino horn does not actually work! It is used by TCM practitioners supposedly to bring down fevers, when an aspirin would do the job and much more cheaply. Some Vietnamese people apparently believe that rhino horn cures cancer. It doesn’t. It’s made of keratin, the same protein that is found on our hair and nails. If you want to try it out, chew someone else’s toenails: don’t poach a rhino.

http://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/thorny_issues/poisoning_rhino_horns

The wikipedia article, if anything, condones poaching because it gives only the poacher's side of the story. 'The purported effectiveness of the use of rhino horn in treating any illness has not been confirmed by medical science.' is not acceptable, after you have just suggested the 'herbalists' myths may be true.

also, there could be a section on the practice of putting poison in the horns

Ed Hern, owner of the Rhino and Lion Reserve near Johannesburg, plans to inject the horns of his rhino with poison, so that if the rhino is subsequently poached and its horns smuggled to Asia, anyone using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) made with these horns would be killed or seriously injured.

You’d then need to decide whether to poison rhino horns secretly and arrange for some to be leaked into the illegal trade network so that a few end users became ill or died; or whether to publicise the fact that horns were routinely being poisoned, and perhaps stop the trade by generating a kind of “voodoo” around rhino horns. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.85.21.66 (talk) 13:30, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

mistakes and awkward language

There is some poorly-written passages in the "conservation" section which I was unable to edit because of the anti-vandalism lock. If there is someone who has the ability to edit this page, consider re-wording the following passage, among others: "this is a trade in which not only do the actors benefit, but so do the nation states ignoring them as well. Nonetheless, we continue to remove the rhino from its natural environment and allow for a dependence on human beings to save them from endangerment.[56] Parks and reserves have been made for protecting the rhinos with armed guards keeping watch, but even still many poachers get through and harm the rhinos for their horns." Fairy mermaid unicorn princess (talk) 03:03, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Editing

I have editied page because black rhino was pronounced extinct by the icun.

i added this paragraph and changed the conservative status:

The rarest of the black rhino subspecies, the West African black rhinoceros, is now recognized by the ICUN as extinct. The species, Diceros bicornis longpipes, was once widespread in central Africa, but the population began a steep decline due to poaching. The rhino was listed as "critically endangered" in 2008, but a survey of the animal's last remaining habitat in northern Cameroon failed to find any sign of the rhinos, either a true siting or even evidence of its presence, like feces or feeding signs. No West African black rhinos are known to be held in captivity.

From the website- http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/10-animals-presumed-extinct-in-the-last-decade/west-african-black-rhino

- Emilie Sherwood — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emilie.s02 (talk • contribs) 10:38, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

That applies to the western black rhinoceros which is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros. That subspecies is extinct (as already mentioned in this article) but the species black rhinoceros itself has not been pronounced extinct, and there are many sources that show that there are still black rhinos. Hence, the conservation status of the black rhino (in this article) must not be changed; again, the information about the western black rhino is already in this article and there is also a separate article about the subspecies - feel free to edit that and add more information to it if you feel it is needed, but please read the article first to check what it already says. --bonadea contributions talk 10:54, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

Can we flip the maps?

It seems trivial, but I think that due to the real threat that the Black Rhino is constantly under, every little moment that someone glimpses at a drastic image if they only quickly peruse the page, the more influence and sincerity reaches out to people. This is some real fat out there stuff but I do think that a lot of people just glance at the page. They see a generally large part of Africa covered in green and think "oh the rhinos are doing okay." I think we can educate the quick glances by simple rearrangement. It's not going to save the rhinos, but hey it makes that give more seriousness to their thought of Rhinos in the back of their head if hey peruse on eve in a Great while. It's a great journalistic tactic, so what's to say it doesn't help reorganize thought here?

Please leave your thought. Don't be too harsh I just want to educate :-) Saml214 (talk) 16:50, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

• Try putting on the map a dot for each known live rhino, not merely coloring a whole nation because it has a few rhinos. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 14:45, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

I don't really know the correct way to suggest an edit, but I noticed the map of the current Black Rhino range shows none in Rwanda. I am in Akegara National Park right now and there are Black Rhinos here. There are known to be a few dozen wild ones, and staff are in the process of introducing a number of them into the wild from several European zoos. They are currently in an enclosure being acclimated to non-zoo living. I have a photo if that helps. -Jsmith192 (talk) 20:54, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

One cannot edit a Wikipedia article based on a photo that you took while visiting Rwanda; you need a reliable (secondary) source that says what you wish to add. But I did a Google search and found that the WWF, in its article about the black rhino (https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/black-rhino), has an updated map of black rhino range that provides that there is an introduced black rhino population in Rwanda: : https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/photos/14869/images/cropped/Population_Distribution_Black_Rhino2.jpg?1513549062. If an interested editor knows how to make maps, I ask him or her to produce an updated map of the current populations of black rhinos that includes Rwanda as home to an introduced population of black rhinos. AuH2ORepublican (talk) 22:04, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Behaviour when giving birth

• An episode of the 4th series of The Secret Life of the Zoo shows the female black rhino Kitani at Chester Zoo in the last stage of labour, spinning rapidly round and round on her feet, thus adding centrifugal force to the expulsive birth effort. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 21:36, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

Mislabeled image

The animals in this image are both black rhinos, the footnote is wrong.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/The_Big_Game_of_Africa_%281910%29_-_Black_%26_White_Rhinos.png — Preceding unsigned comment added by Juan(-username-) (talk • contribs) 20:34, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: BSC 4052 Conservation Biology

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2023 and 28 April 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: Josantosusf.

— Assignment last updated by Tlbegin (talk) 03:23, 12 April 2023 (UTC)