Rhinos are still threatened by extinction in the whole of Africa and even in the National Parks it is difficult to protect them. Poachers usually get into the Kruger Park by crossing the 300 km long border to Mozambique which is not easy to survey, and manage to keep on shooting rhinos. Conservationists have, as a desperate resort, taken to anaesthetizing the animals and cutting their horns off to make them unattractive to the poachers. It is the horn which fetches a high price on the black market, since Asian men believe in taking it - in a pulverized form - as a potency remedy.
The rhinoceros is a vegetarian and mainly feeds on foliage and twigs. It can weigh up to three tons and reach the age of forty. It does not have a good eyesight, but its senses of hearing and especially smell are well developed. Its only enemy is man.
The name "White Rhino" goes back to a translation error. It was supposed to be "wide", referring to the broad shape of its mouth and not to the colouring.
Rhinos
in the Kruger Park
There are not too many rhinoceros in the Kruger National Park, so anyone with a particular interest in seeing them, should perhaps rather visit the Umfolozi Game Reserve in Natal where they have succeeded in breeding this endangered species.
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