The Rhino

Since we are on a week long journey to the destination of our dreams where we save the best for last on our final day, we might as well talk about the Rhino. The Rhino is one of the animals in Kenya that is considered to be among the big five. Their population is widely spread and is found on every park in the country. One might wonder why there is all this talk about the Rhino and why the authorities consider it a ‘must have’ in every park in the country.
Rhinos are herbivores, so they eat only grass, tender shoots, leaves, buds and other vegetation but no meat. These Kenyan animals live in scrubby savannahs but also near water and wallows. The black and white rhino species derive their names, not from the colors of their coats but from the shape of mouths.
Rhinos can grow to a height of about 152 cm (60 in) at the shoulder with an adult rhino's weight ranges from about 1,600 kg (3,527 lb) for the black species to about 2,550 kg (5,622 lb) for the white species; As such, it is the second largest land-based mammal after the African elephants Rhinos are extremely bad-tempered and it is not unusual for them to charge at human being or even cars for no apparent reason, however they do have a pretty poor eyesight compounding to their bad temper.
It is said that even a thief has honor thus the rhino is best friends with the red-billed and yellow-billed oxpeckers, one of the ubiquitous Kenya birds whose relationship is a symbiotic one with the oxpeckers devouring the ticks they find on the rhino coat and they alert rhinos to impending danger by chirping ceaselessly and in turn the rhino offering warm shelter on their backs. Rhinos have a well-developed sense of smell and hearing. The rhino can attain a speed of 48 km (30 mile) per hour, which when one considers their weight it is quite fast. In addition, contrary to a commonly held myth, a rhino is able to make a sharp turn in a remarkably small space almost a turn of 90 degrees.
Gestation lasts 16 months and culminates in the birth of a single calf. The mother nurses its calf for 2 to 4 years or until the next calf is born. These calves eventually wander off and live on their own when they mature. Typically, a healthy rhino has a lifespan of about 40 years in the wild but some are known to have lived to up to half a century. Both rhino species have 2 horns, with the longer one sitting at the base of the nose. These horns are primarily a weapon which the rhinos use to gore or strike their hapless victims who are mostly humans since they are their only predators

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