At 1.8m height and 2.5 tonnes of weight, the white rhinoceros is the largest of the five rhino species and the third largest land animal.
Their sense of smell is accurate and the main tool to find food, a mate, or checking for danger. They use scent marking as a way of communication, as well as grunts, snorts, bellows and whistles.
Unlike elephant tusks, rhino horns are made of thousands of strands of very stiff hair. This species inhabits the African grasslands and savannahs, prefering open grasslands and floodplains.
In the early 1900s the Southern white rhino population become critically low. Thankfully, with the aid of conservation organisations globally, there are now 17,464 Southern white rhino surviving today.
Auckland Zoo supports the work of the Lowveld Rhino Trust Zimbabwe in their conservation efforts to aid this magnificent species.
