Southern black rhinoceros

The **southern black rhinoceros** (*Diceros bicornis bicornis*), also known as the **Cape rhinoceros**, is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros that is abundant in South Africa from the Cape Province to Transvaal, southern Namibia, and Lesotho and southern Botswana. It was brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduced to its former range. The southern black rhinoceros is the largest of all black rhino subspecies. The southern black rhinoceros is similar to the other black rhinoceros subspecies. The skull is the largest of any known subspecies and proportionally large compared to the body. The limbs are short but slender and the skin folds are only weakly pronounced. The southern black rhinoceros is largely restricted to well-vegetated regions, in contrast to others that are well adapted to desertic conditions. The southern black rhinoceroses' thick-layered skin helps to protect the rhinos from thorns and sharp grasses. Their skin harbors external parasites, such as mites and ticks, which may be eaten by oxpeckers and egrets. Such behaviour was originally thought to be an example of mutualism, but recent evidence suggests that oxpeckers may be parasites instead, feeding on rhino blood. Their eyesight is comparatively good, at about the level of a rabbit. Their ears have a relatively wide rotational range to detect sounds. An excellent sense of smell alerts rhinos to the presence of predators. Southern black rhinoceros are generally thought to be solitary, with the only strong bond between a mother and her calf. In addition, males and females have a consort relationship during mating, also subadults and young adults frequently form loose associations with older individuals of either sex. They are not very territorial and often intersect other rhino territories. Home ranges vary depending on season and the availability of food and water. The southern black rhinoceros is a herbivorous browser that eats leafy plants, branches, shoots, thorny wood bushes, and fruit. The adults are solitary in nature, coming together only for mating. Mating does not have a seasonal pattern but births tend to be towards the end of the rainy season in more arid environments. When in season the females will mark dung piles. Males will follow females when they are in season; when she defecates he will scrape and spread the dung, making it more difficult for rival adult males to pick up her scent trail. Courtship behaviors before mating include snorting and sparring with the horns among males. Another courtship behavior is called bluff and bluster, where the rhino will snort and swing its head from side to side aggressively before running away repeatedly. Breeding pairs stay together for 2–3 days and sometimes even weeks. They mate several times a day over this time and copulation lasts for a half-hour. The gestation period for a southern black rhino is 15 months. The single calf weighs about 35–50 kilograms (80–110 lbs) at birth, and can follow its mother around after just three days. Weaning occurs at around 2 years of age for the offspring. The mother and calf stay together for 2–3 years until the next calf is born; female calves may stay longer, forming small groups. The young are occasionally taken by hyenas and lions. Sexual maturity is reached from 5 to 7 years old for females, and 7 to 8 years for males. The life expectancy in natural conditions (without poaching pressure) is from 35 to 50 years. The conservation status of the southern black rhinoceros is **Near Threatened** due to some habitat loss and historic poaching, however, thanks to the conservationists, the southern black rhinoceros is a protected species and is making a comeback.