Small thorn trees and tamboti thickets especially favoured. Riverine and drainage line habitats and nutrient-rich termite mound bush clumps provide important dry season habitat. In southern Africa the higher densities are found in sweetveld and valley bushveld. Has a much smaller head which is usually held high compared to the white rhino. The ears are more rounded and trumpet-like compared to the white rhino's elongated and 'rectangular' shaped ears.
Colour of animal depends in part on the colour of the soil in which it has rolled.
Black rhino dung is sometimes deposited on white rhino dung middens. It is orangish in colour and contains fragments of leaves and sticks. In contrast to elephant dung, the twigs in black rhino's dung have a neat, pruned appearance. Among other sounds the calves also make an enchanting mewing noise which seems incongruous for such a big animal. The hooked upper lip is used to grab hold of branches and pull them into the mouth.