White rhinoceros

White rhinoceros
Southern white rhinos in a national park in South Africa
Systematics
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria) Superordinate : Laurasiatheria Order : Unpaired ungulate (Perissodactyla) Family : Rhinoceros (Rhinocerotidae) Genre : Ceratotherium Type : White rhinoceros
Scientific name of the  genus
Ceratotherium
JE Gray , 1868
Scientific name of the  species
Ceratotherium simum
( Burchell , 1817)

The white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ) is a mammal from the rhinoceros family . The sometimes used name white rhinoceros is derived from the common English name White rhinoceros . The species lives in the grass savannahs of Africa and is the only surviving representative of the genus Ceratotherium . In addition, the white rhinoceros is the largest recent rhinoceros species.

features

General

Northern white rhinoceros in the San Diego Zoo (the bull "Angalifu", deceased in 2014)

The white rhinoceros, along with the three elephant species and the hippopotamus, is one of the largest land mammals and the largest of all rhino species living today . It has a head-to-trunk length of 340 to 380 cm, a shoulder height of 150 to 180 cm and a weight of 1.8 to 2 t for cows and mostly 1.8 to 2.5 t for bulls. Large bulls sometimes reach a weight of 3.5 t. The sexual dimorphism is very pronounced, examined male animals from the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were 359 to 375 cm long and 163 to 182 cm high at the shoulder. For female animals, the corresponding values ​​were 299 to 322 cm and 153 to 177 cm. The body is massive, the limbs are very broad and short. The very low-hanging head and a mighty neck hump, which is formed from connective tissue and muscles and gives the head-trunk line a characteristic curve, are striking.

The body color of the white rhinoceros, like that of the related black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ) , which is also widespread in Africa, is slate gray. The skin is on average 2 cm thick, but also reaches up to 4.5 cm at the neck hump and is very dense. It has only slight wrinkles, which may be related to the dense subcutaneous fat tissue. Most of the only visible fold is on the upper ends of the front limbs. Except for the edges of the ears, the eyelids and the end of the tail, the rhino species is hairless. As further distinguishing features from the black rhinoceros, the white rhinoceros has large pointed ears and a wide, blunt mouth without a prong. The lower lip forms a horny edge that replaces the missing incisors and with the help of which the animals tear off the grass forage. Another distinctive feature are the two horns on the nose and forehead, with the front one usually being larger.

Skull and dentition features

Head of a white rhinoceros

The skull of the white rhinoceros has a length of 70 to 85 cm. It has a long, acute-angled occiput , which is what causes the low head posture of this rhino species. At the occipital bulge, the powerful neck muscles are used to hold the low-hanging skull. The nasal bone is broad and partly curved forward. The forehead line shows a clear indentation.

The lower jaw is very massive, the symphysis wide and shaped like a spatula. Due to the absence of the anterior dentition the teeth is significantly reduced, the dental formula of the adult animal is: . However, incisors are still detectable in the embryo . In general, the molars have a very high crown, i.e. they are hypsodontic , the rearmost molar is up to 13 cm high. The proportion of dental cement is very high. ${\displaystyle {\frac {0.0.3.3.}{0.0.3.3.}}}$

horns

The two horns of the white rhinoceros are made of keratin , which is formed from thousands of elongated threads (filaments) and is extremely strong. Similar to hair or fingernails, they grow throughout life, even if damaged. The front horn (nasal horn) sits on the nasal bone, the rear (frontal horn) on the frontal bone . Both are not connected at their base. As a rule, they have a conical shape and are not so clearly bent backwards as in the black rhinoceros. The front horn is longer and is up to 100 cm long, the longest horn ever measured had a length of 158 cm. The rear horn is significantly shorter at 50 cm. Cows usually have longer and much slimmer horns than bulls.

Usually the horn is used as a weapon against predators or in the fight for dominance, but it also plays an important role in establishing contact with other rhinos. When eating, the front horn is often dragged across the floor, with clear traces of wear.

Karyotype and genome

Complete set of chromosomes from a female northern white rhinoceros. Skin fibroblasts after Giemsa staining.

The size of the genome of the white rhinoceros is 2666.62 Mbp. A diploid cell has 2 x 40 autosomal chromosomes and two sex chromosomes (XX and XY).

Sensory performances and vocalizations

The sense of smell is the most important sense of the white rhinoceros, with good wind direction it can pick up the weather from a distance of 730 m. The hearing is also extremely good and the ears are in constant motion. Like all other rhinoceros species, however, it has poor eyesight that reaches a maximum of 20 m.

The white rhinoceros uses an extensive repertoire of sounds for communication , with bulls generally being noisier. They roar when fighting among themselves. During the rut, a bull grunts and snorts to pique the interest of a cow, and emits an elephant-like trumpet when turned away. Calves squeak when separated from their mother. A distinction is made between different groups of sounds, the tone (cry, squeak), growl (growl, grunt, moan, groan) and puff (snort, pant), which can sometimes be repeated. Some sounds are in the infrasound range . The great wealth of sounds goes back to the close social relationships of the white rhinoceros.

Distribution and subspecies

Historical distribution areas of the northern and southern subspecies

The white rhinoceros is an inhabitant of the long and short grass savannahs of Africa , but it prefers areas with short vegetation in both high and lowlands. Despite its largely grazing diet and the evolving characteristics resulting from it , it is not an animal that has been fully adapted to open landscapes. To protect it from intense sunlight, it needs low and high bushes that provide it with sufficient cover and shade. The optimal habitat includes grasslands with thickened bushes and forests or adjacent open forest landscapes. It prefers the proximity of water. If this proximity is not given, it undertakes regular hikes to suitable water and suhl places.

The white rhinoceros was originally much more widespread than the historical range suggests in the colonial era. So it came up the Nile to southern Egypt around 2000 years ago and is likely to have populated a large part of northwest Africa. Rock paintings and bone finds suggest that it even settled in the far north of Africa, such as Morocco and Libya, around 3,500 years ago. The recently known distribution area is limited to two isolated occurrences in southern and central Africa.

Until recently, two subspecies of the white rhinoceros native to African savannahs existed in the wild :

Side view of a southern white rhinoceros

• Southern white rhinoceros ( C. s. Simum ( Burchell , 1817)); The form once lived in a belt that stretched from Angola and Namibia via Botswana and Zimbabwe to Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal , the northern border in historical times was probably the Zambezi . However, it may also have occurred in southwestern Zambia. The appearance of the white rhinoceros corresponded with the Bushveld regions of southern Africa. Today it is fragmentarily scattered over numerous protected areas in the region. In 2010 the population was estimated at around 20,150 animals; it is the most common rhino species. The population had therefore recovered significantly since the 2007 censuses. The subspecies is classified as “Endangered” by the IUCN .
• Northern white rhinoceros ( C. s. Cottoni Lydekker , 1908); The form was widespread from the Congo and Uganda to Chad and Sudan . The ancient Egyptians still found it wild in the Nile Valley , and it was also found in Morocco at that time. Recently, its population in the wild had been limited to the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), where it had recovered from a low in the 1970s to around 40 specimens. But after the civil war and attacks by poaching paramilitaries from Sudan, the population was extremely dwindling in 2005–2006 and, according to press reports, had been considered extinct in the wild since 2008. With a remaining population of two animals worldwide, the northern white rhinoceros is the rarest large mammal in the world and has been on the IUCN's red list of endangered species as critically endangered since the beginning of the 2010s .

Way of life

Territorial behavior

Southern white rhinoceros in the Kruger National Park in South Africa

The white rhinoceros is active at twilight and rests in shady regions during the day. It is true to location and lives in groups of two to six animals, consisting of the mother animal with her young and other adolescent animals. Sometimes there are larger associations with up to twenty rhinos, but these usually only represent temporary gatherings at watering holes. Young bulls are tolerated in the groups as long as they do not attempt to mate. Such a group forms a rather loose bandage, which in the event of danger encircles itself , i.e. forms a circle with the horned skulls facing outwards. The grazing area of ​​a cow varies between 10 and 15 km², mostly with a core area of ​​6 to 8 km² and overlaps with that of several bulls. The size of the stiff area depends on the quality of the food supply and the availability of water.

Adult bulls live alone and have a fixed territory of 1 to 9 km², according to other information up to 70 km². The size of your territories varies depending on the number of rhinos in an area. The territory is usually defended by a dominant bull (alpha bull) against other adult bulls. The owner of the territory has the privilege to mate with the females. Crossing borders by other territorial cops leads to highly ritualized fights, using the horns. Young bulls and other cows are tolerated in the area.

Marking behavior

A bull approaches a pile of excrement from a predecessor.

He checks the pile for smell and consistency.

He removes the pile with his hind legs.

He puts a pile himself as a territory marker.

The territories are marked by fixed droppings at the borders, which are used by several animals in particularly prominent places and area borders, whereby large piles of manure can arise. Dominant bulls disperse their droppings with their back hooves. Often used paths are also marked by spraying urine , which can happen every 100 m. Urination is also highly ritualized, with hooves being scratched on the ground or bushes beforehand and these scratches being sprayed several times. Outside of their own territory, however, bulls do not leave any traces of urine.

The white rhinoceros is not considered to be aggressive, usually it always keeps its head down, only when paying close attention does it look up. The normal trot speed is around 15 to 30 km / h. An angry white rhinoceros can become a dangerous opponent because the long horn is used as a weapon. When attacking or fleeing, an animal can gallop up to 40 km / h and change direction very quickly. Since the rhinoceros species, like all rhinos, have trouble seeing, they have no visually recognizable expressive behavior , which makes them unpredictable for humans.

Diet

Broad mouths

The white rhinoceros prefers grass food ( grazer ), its low-hanging head, broad lips and high-crowned teeth are excellent adaptation to this diet. Food intake takes up almost 50% of daily activities. It mainly feeds on short grasses. In the southern area of ​​distribution, various millet forms such as Panicum , Urochloa and Digitum serve as the basis of food, which grow in shady areas of the red grass savannah ( Themada triandra ). Furthermore, also Cynodon ( Cynodon ) and various grasses (u. A. Hyparrhenia consumed). In times of food shortage, silk plants such as Stapelia and Sarcostemma are not spurned. In the northern range, species of lamp-cleaning grass ( Pennisetum ) often serve as a food source.

The white rhinoceros drinks water every day if possible, for which purpose it leaves the grazing areas and goes to watering places. The next water point should not be further than a few kilometers away. If necessary, the rhino species can do without water for two to four days.

The white rhinoceros also very often goes to mud baths where it usually stays for around an hour and usually lies motionless. Usually this is done in the heat of the day or at dusk. If there are no wallowing spots at unfavorable times of the year, the white rhinoceros also uses clay courts as a substitute. These baths are necessary for thermoregulation , but also to fight parasites . Water baths like those of the Asian rhinoceros are not known to the white rhinoceros.

Reproduction

Mother with cub in the Sabie Sands Private Game Reserve in South Africa

White rhinos are characterized by a promiscuous mating behavior, i. H. they often mate with changing partners. However, half of all females are very loyal to their partners ( monogamous ) and always father young animals with the same bull. However, you do not live in a couple relationship with this male, but only come together with him to mate (genetic monogamy). When mating, females do not differentiate between related animals and mate themselves with their father. This leads to a high degree of inbreeding and genetic impoverishment, especially in smaller reserves . The mating success of the territorial bulls varies greatly, the reasons for this are presumably in the choice of mate of the females. The rhinoceros reproduction is highly seasonal. With the beginning of the rainy season, the level of hormones ( androgens ) in the males increases and fights between bulls and cows increase. As a result, the number of matings in the rainy season also increases.

Female young animals become sexually mature at six to seven years of age, males at ten to twelve. Cows come to heat every 29 to 44 days, whereby they separate themselves from the group and mark themselves with remarkable frequency, which attracts bulls willing to mate. After a foreplay of up to a day with rubbing, laying on the head and mock fighting, copulation finally takes place, which can last 20 to 80 minutes and begins with the bull on the cow. At times the bull expels semen every three minutes. After the union, the female usually returns to the group.

The gestation period lasts about 16 to 18 months, according to observations on zoo animals it varies from 480 to 548 days. Shortly before giving birth, the pregnant cow leaves the herd and remains alone for a few days. The only calf that is born already weighs 40 to 60 kg and after an hour can stand to suckle milk. It is covered with a light dark-colored fur, which later falls out. It also has a black bump where the front horn is, and the hooves are also black in color. After 24 hours the calf will be able to follow the mother but will usually easily walk in front of her. It is suckled for about a year and starts to eat grass just two months after it is born. However, it grows quite slowly and weighs around 440 kg after a year. Only after two and a half to three years does the mother go into heat again and then drive the young away. After the next calf is born and after the first few weeks, the last young often joins its mother again. The lifespan of a white rhinoceros is 40 to 50 years.

Interaction with other animal species

Adult white rhinos have no natural predators; occasionally lions attack cubs . There is a close positive ecological relationship with the African elephant , whose herds contain the bush and tree vegetation and thus create open landscapes that the white rhinoceros uses. Sometimes the black rhinoceros also graze together with the black rhinoceros. There are also symbiotic relationships with the yellow-billed maggot chopper ( Buphagus africanus ), the cattle egret ( Bubulcus ibis ) and the red-shouldered starling ( Lamprotornis nitens ). The birds often peck insects from the skin of the rhinoceros and also act as an alarm signal when they are frightened.

Parasites

Like all recent rhinoceros species, the white rhinoceros is attacked by numerous ticks and flies (including Lypeosia ). In the stomach of the larvae were Warbles demonstrated that store eggs in the skin on the head and shoulder. Further endoparasites are ciliates . It is also known that Neospora caninum leads to the occurrence of neosporosis and, similar to domestic cattle, causes abortions in the white rhinoceros. Also piroplasmosis parasites ( Babesia and Theileria ) are detected.

Systematics

The white rhinoceros is the only living member of the genus Ceratotherium . Its closest relative is the black rhinoceros. Together they form the sub- tribus dicerotina, which includes the two-horned rhinos of Africa. Within the Dicerotina, the white rhinoceros is the somewhat more modern species due to its skull and tooth features. Molecular genetic studies have shown that the two groups separated around 17.1 million years ago, which was roughly the separation in the Middle Miocene postulated at the end of the 1970s based on paleontological data corresponds. According to genetic studies from the 1980s, the separation only began 3.5 million years ago. The split from the Asian rhino lines took place 29.3 million years ago.

The two subspecies of the white rhinoceros, the northern and the southern, were not differentiated until 1908 by the British paleontologist Richard Lydekker (1849–1915). There are individual morphological differences between the two. These mainly affect the cranial and dental structures. In addition, the southern white rhinoceros is significantly larger, while the northern one has a smaller stature and a much straighter back. There are also discrepancies in the vocalizations between the two forms. This as well as genetic differences prompted Colin P. Groves in 2010 to describe both as separate species with the scientific names C. simum (southern white rhinoceros) and C. cottoni (northern white rhinoceros). The postulated division into two types has, however, been heavily criticized in part and is generally not recognized. According to initial analyzes, the separation of the two subspecies should have taken place 0.8 to 1.4 million years ago, studies using the complete mitochondrial DNA specified this to be 0.46 to 0.97 million years. These also showed that both lines are monophyletic and thus exist in isolation from each other. In historical times there was only one known hybrid between the two subspecies worldwide . The animal, “Nasi”, was born in 1977 and euthanized in 2007 due to an advanced clinical picture. The discussion about a species status of the northern white rhinoceros increased again from 2016 onwards.

Another unique hybrid of a southern white rhinoceros and a black rhinoceros was born in 1988 in the 800 hectare fenced South Africa's National Zoological Gardens Game Breeding Center north of Pretoria . The animal showed distinctive mixed features, so the mouth was shaped comparable to that of the white rhinoceros, but had a small extension on the upper lip. The ears, in turn, were similar to those of the black rhinoceros, while the body contour reflected both species of rhinoceros.

Tribal history

The genus Ceratotherium first appeared in the late Miocene in the eastern Mediterranean area , where it is very common overall. One of the earliest known finds comes from Cappadocia in Central Anatolia and includes a 59 cm long partial skull with a lower jaw. These were found in an ignimbrite layer, the age of which is approximately 9.2 million years. Apparently, the animal got caught in a volcanic eruption and, according to the surface preservation of the bones, was baked to death in the pyroclastic current at around 400 ° C. The finds belong to the rare fossils that come from volcanic deposits, a comparable case within the group of rhinos is that of the Blue Lake Rhino in the northwest of the USA . These very early finds are usually assigned to the species Ceratotherium neumayri , which ate a mixed vegetable diet due to its skull and tooth features. Since this species shares numerous characteristics with the later Ceratotherium forms, but also with Diceros including Paradiceros , it is often regarded as an ancestral form for the two African rhinoceros species living today. The resulting paraphyletic origin of Ceratotherium partly leads to the demand to separate this species from the genus and to assign a new genus name. "Ceratotherium" advenientis from the Upper Miocene of Calabria in southern Italy could also be closely related .

Originally the Plio- and Pleistocene predecessors of the white rhinoceros were described as Ceratotherium praecox , which, however, is considered to be a representative of Diceros due to recent anatomical studies in 2005 . Thus, in addition to some as yet unspecified remains from the early Pliocene of Morocco, only Ceratotherium mauritanicum remains in the immediate ancestral line. This occurred in East Africa since the middle Pliocene and reached South and North Africa in the late Pliocene. The current species developed from this form in the early Pleistocene. Ceratotherium mauritanicum only survived in North Africa until the late Pleistocene, when it disappeared when the more modern form took hold here as well. The forerunner form was already clearly similar to today's white rhinoceros, but did not have such high-crowned teeth and was somewhat smaller.

Today's white rhinoceros first appeared in the early Pleistocene of East Africa. The earliest representatives come from the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli (both Tanzania ) and are assigned to the subspecies Ceratotherium simum germanoafricanum . This possibly represents the initial form for the two subspecies known today. Well-preserved Pleistocene finds also come from Koobi Fora ( Kenya ), where they are associated with those from the black rhinoceros and, as with the other sites mentioned, with significant early human remains.

Research history

William John Burchell

The white rhinoceros was already known in the Roman Empire , where Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus may have found such an animal in 55 BC. At his consulate celebration, which was described by Pliny the Elder and other ancient scholars and probably came from Ethiopia . Knowledge of this representative rhino was lost in the European Middle Ages , and until the end of the 18th century only the black rhino was known as an African rhino species. It was not until 1812 that the British naturalist William John Burchell (1782–1863) rediscovered the white rhinoceros in South Africa. He shot an animal and brought it back to England , where he scientifically described it as Rhinoceros simus in 1817 . The now recognized genus name Ceratotherium was introduced by the British researcher John Edward Gray (1800–1875) in 1868.

Various scientific names have been used for the white rhinoceros over time:

• Rhinoceros simus Burchell, 1817
• Rhinoceros burchellii Lesson, 1827
• Rhinoceros camus Griffith, 1827
• Rhinoceros oswelli Ellion 1847
• Rhinoceros kiaboaba Murray, 1866
• Rhinoceros simus cottoni Lydekker, 1908
• Rhinoceros scotti Hopwood 1926
• Serengetitherium efficax Dietrich 1945

Inventory development

Southern subspecies

Southern white rhinoceros in South Africa

The southern subspecies of the white rhinoceros was thought to be extinct in 1893 before a small remaining population of ten animals was discovered in Natal . All of the southern white rhinos of our day descend from them. By the 1970s, the population in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park grew to 1,000 animals and doubled again to 2,000 by 1980, to 4,000 by 1990 and in 2001 reached a number of 11,000 animals. At the end of 2019, the population of the southern white rhinoceros was around 18,000 individuals; a large proportion of the wild southern white rhinos are at home on the territory of South Africa ; a group was also introduced in Kenya where it did not occur naturally in historical times. Since 2010, however, poaching has increased massively in southern Africa, which is related to the greater influence exerted by East Asian economic organizations.

Northern subspecies

General

The northern white rhinoceros was first scientifically described in 1908. At that time it was still represented in large numbers. Big game hunters managed to eradicate the subspecies everywhere in just a few decades - with the exception of Garamba National Park, where 1,000 white rhinos lived under strict protection in 1963. At that time, however, there was a strong demand for horns because of their alleged healing properties in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and because of the coveted rhino dagger as a symbol of status and masculinity among the upper class of Yemen . The willingness of buyers in East Asia and Yemen to pay even the highest prices for illegally imported horns makes poaching a profitable business despite all the risks of state persecution. While the southern white rhinos of South Africa were never affected by poaching to such an extent due to their relative stability, Zaire (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo ) was unable to provide comparable effective protection. The civil war in the Congo, which has raged uninterruptedly since 1997, made protective measures difficult. The estimate of the last surviving population in Garamba National Park resulted in around 40 white rhinos in 2003. Since then, the population has continued to decline due to poaching. A population survey in 2008 could no longer detect any living northern white rhinos in the Garamba reserve. The subspecies has since been considered extinct in the wild.

Maintenance breeding in the Czech Republic

A northern white rhinoceros in the Dvůr Králové zoo

The European conservation breeding program for white rhinos was run and monitored by the Czech zoo Dvůr Králové until 1996 , and the Beekse Bergen Safari Park (Netherlands) has been running the EEP for white rhinos since 1996. Based on the zoo population, an attempt was made to set up a conservation breeding program to save the subspecies. The breeding of the northern white rhinoceros has proven to be extremely difficult. According to Christian Matschei, "between 1947 and 1973 ... a total of 24 specimens were taken from the natural range ..." Of these, however, only four were bred. In the 1980s, several young animals were born in Dvůr Králové, most recently the female young animal "Najin" on July 11, 1989. This was followed by 11 years without any offspring. For this reason, the keeping conditions were changed and on July 5, 1989 the bull "Saut", which had been loaned to the partner zoo in San Diego , was brought back. As a result, the last offspring to date was born on June 29, 2000, the calf "Fatu".

On January 23, 2007, the first artificial insemination method was born in the Budapest Zoo / Hungary. Experts hope that the advances in the field of artificial rhinoceros fertilization will also provide a chance to save the northern subspecies of the white rhinoceros from extinction. An initiative by reproductive medicine specialists from Berlin to bring the remaining cows of the northern white rhinoceros to reproduction using medical-technical methods initially failed due to concerns of the Dvůr Králové zoo. Since 2006, however, the Berlin Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research has been carrying out artificial inseminations of the northern white rhinoceros, which have not shown any success. A first operation to remove egg cells for artificial insemination had to be stopped without success because the condition of the rhinoceros cow deteriorated during the operation.

Conservation breeding in Kenya

Due to the lack of breeding success in the Czech Republic, the world's last remaining breeding group of the northern white rhinoceros - two female and two male animals - was moved from the Dvůr Králové Zoo to the Ol Pejeta Reserve in Kenya in December 2009 . The 90,000 acre (360 km²) reserve is located between the northern foothills of Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Range .

The institutions involved hoped that the new project would enable the remaining breeding population to reproduce in its original African environment and thus save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. In a similar situation, based on a small remaining population of ten animals, the species was already preserved in the southern white rhinoceros. Various aspects spoke in favor of the Ol Pejeta Reserve as a location for the conservation breeding project in Africa: The area is close to the original range of the northern white rhinoceros and is well suited to the species in terms of habitat. The necessary infrastructure, specialist knowledge and human resources were already in place, as the reserve already contained the largest black rhino population in East Africa at the time. The reserve was also considered to be less prone to poaching than comparable areas. The reserve was therefore endorsed by the IUCN / SSC (African Rhino Specialist Group) secretariat .

The bull "Sudan" (died 2018) in the Ol Pejeta reserve in Kenya (2010)

On December 20, 2009, the four northern white rhinos, the bulls "Sudan" and "Suni" and the cows "Najin" and "Fatu", arrived in the Ol Pejeta reserve after a day's transport by plane and truck. The animals were kept under close observation and care for a few weeks in smaller enclosures. They were then released into larger, also strictly monitored enclosures with natural vegetation. Initially, the Northern White Rhino Survival Project went according to plan and without incident. As a result, there were regular, cyclical pairings between "Suni" and "Fatu". However, there was no breeding success.

As a further development of the breeding strategy, two of the northern white rhinos were brought together in separate enclosures to form breeding pairs on November 8, 2011, on the one hand the cow "Najin" and the bull "Suni", on the other hand Najin's daughter "Fatu" and the bull "Sudan". The enclosure of "Najin" and "Suni" covered 2.82 km² (700 acres). The hormone levels - and thus the reproductive readiness - of the animals were continuously analyzed using fecal samples. In the summer of 2012 it was reported that there had been two pairings between “Suni” and “Najin” (end of April and end of May). This message was of particular importance as it was the first pairing for "Najin" in over ten years. At that time, the last birth of a northern white rhinoceros, that of her daughter "Fatu". Now more cyclical matings were expected.

However, since there were no offspring, an alternative plan was started on January 25, 2014, which provided for mating the remaining cows of the northern subspecies with a bull of the southern subspecies in order to at least part of the genes and the specific characteristics of the northern white rhinoceros to obtain. For this purpose, a bull from the neighboring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was brought to the Ol Pejeta reserve and placed in an enclosure with the cows “Fatu” and “Najin”. But even this attempt was unsuccessful.

"Suni" was the last bull that was expected to have offspring. He died in October 2014 in the Ol Pejeta Reserve in Kenya. After that, six specimens of the northern white rhinoceros lived worldwide, and in December of the same year the 44-year-old bull "Angalifu" died in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park . After that, only five animals of the northern subspecies lived worldwide. By November 2015, two more animals, one cow each, had died in the zoos of San Diego and Dvůr Králové. Of the last three remaining specimens, all of which were in the Ol Pejeta reserve, the bull " Sudan " had to be euthanized on March 19, 2018 due to age. On the day of his death, genetic material for artificial insemination was still taken from "Sudan". There are only two northern white rhinos in the reserve in Kenya: the two females "Najin" (born July 11, 1989) and "Fatu" (born June 29, 2000), daughter and granddaughter of "Sudan".

Conservation efforts since 2018

At the beginning of 2015, veterinarians from the Czech Republic came to the conclusion that the female animals could no longer reproduce naturally, and “Sudan” was no longer producing enough sperm cells . An attempt is currently being made to save the subspecies from extinction by means of artificial fertilization. Sperm from bulls that used to live in the zoo in the Czech Republic is stored in the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. This sperm will be used to artificially fertilize cows' eggs in Kenya. The embryos should then be carried by cows of the southern subspecies.

In 2018, embryos of the white rhinoceros were created in the laboratory for the first time (paternal northern breed, maternal southern breed). For 2019, it is hoped that pure-blood embryos of the northern breed will be available for use in surrogate mothers of the southern breed. However, the quality of the frozen sperm is so poor that it has to be injected directly into the egg cells. In order to ensure genetic diversity, the skin cells of the northern white rhinoceros are first to be converted into stem cells and then into germline cells.

etymology

The German trivial name refers to the broad mouth and lip area that clearly sets the rhinoceros apart from the black rhinoceros. The term "white rhinoceros", which is occasionally used for the white rhinoceros, is derived from the English ( white rhinoceros ) or Afrikaans ( witrenoster ) and contrasts with the black rhinoceros as "black rhinoceros" ( black rhinoceros or swartrenoster ). Both names refer to the skin color of the rhinos, but the animals cannot normally be distinguished on the basis of this. The first mention of the term "White Rhino" was made in 1798 by John Barrow, who since 1797 at the Cape of Good Hope was staying, and an encounter with a Griqua -Jäger in a magazine reported that allegedly killed three "white rhino" in one day would have. Just three years later, hunters on a British expedition shot another white rhinoceros, but noted in their reports that it was not white at all. The rhinoceros species was not officially discovered until 1812, and William John Burchell did not use an English synonym of the scientific name in his first description in 1817 .

The origin of the term "white rhinoceros" is unknown. The most commonly held theory is that of the misinterpretation of the Afrikaans word wijd or wyd (for "broad") with the English-sounding white by the British hunters of the time. In terms of linguistic history, however, there is no evidence that the word wyd was used in connection with renoster in Afrikaans or analogously wijd and neushoorn in Dutch . In addition, there are at least nine other theories on the origin of the term "white rhinoceros"; the first joint use with "black rhinoceros" to differentiate between white and black rhinoceros took place in 1838.

literature

• Eric Dinerstein: Family Rhinocerotidae (Rhinoceroses). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , p. 177
• Colin P. Groves: Ceratotherium simum. Mammalian Species 8, 1972, pp. 1-6
• Norman Owen-Smith: Ceratotherium simum White Rhinoceros (Grass Rhinoceros, Square-lipped Rhinoceros). In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume V. Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 446–454

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Norman Owen-Smith: Ceratotherium simum White Rhinoceros (Grass Rhinoceros, Square-lipped Rhinoceros). In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume V. Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 446–454
2. ↑ ^{a b} E. Dinerstein: Family Rhinocerotidae (Rhinoceroses). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , p. 177
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Colin P. Groves: Ceratotherium simum. Mammalian Species 8, 1972, pp. 1-6
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Kristina Tomášová: White rhinoceros. In: R. Fulconis: Save the rhinos: EAZA Rhino Campaign 2005/6. Info Pack, London 2005, pp. 56-60
5. ↑ DB Allbrook, AM Harthoorn, CP Luck and PG Wright: Temperature regulation in the white rhinoceros. The Journal of Physiology 143, 1958; Pp. 51-52
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} P. Groves, Prithiviraj Fernando and Jan Robovsky: The Sixth Rhino: A Taxonomic Re-Assessment of the Critically Endangered Northern White Rhinoceros. PLOS ONE 5 (4), 2010, pp. 1-15
7. ↑ Friedrich E. Zeuner: The relationships between skull shape and way of life in recent and fossil rhinos. Reports of the Natural Research Society in Freiburg 34, 1934, pp. 21–80
8. ↑ Tobin L. Hieronymus, Lawrence M. Witmer and Ryan C. Ridgely: Structure of White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) Horn Investigated by X-ray Computed Tomography and Histology With Implications for Growth and External Form. Journal of Morphology 267, 2006, pp. 1172-1176
9. ↑ Colin B. Groves: Species characters in rhinoceros horns. Journal of Mammals, 36 (4), 1971, pp. 238-252
10. ↑ Ceratotherium simum sequencing at the Broad Institute ( [1] )
11. ↑ Stephen J. O'Brien, Joan C. Menninger and William G. Nash: Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken 2005, ISBN 978-0471350156 , p. 678
12. ↑ ^{a b c} W. E. Foster: The square-lipped rhinoceros. Lammergeyer 1, 1960, pp. 25-35
13. Jump up ↑ Richard Policht, Kristina Tomášová, Dana Holecková and Daniel Frynta: The vocal repertoire in northern white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum cottoni as recorded in the last surviving herd. Bioacoustics 18 (1), 2008, pp. 69-96
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Rudolf Schenkel and Ernst M. Lang: The behavior of the rhinos. Handbuch für Zoologie 8 (46), 1969, pp. 1-56
15. ^ ^{A b} Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's mammals of the world . 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 (English).
16. ^ International Rhino Foundation: Annual report. White Oak, IRF, 2010, pp. 1–21 ( PDF )
17. ↑ ^{a b} Mike H. Knight: African Rhino Specialist Group Chair report. Pachyderm 49, 2011, pp. 6–15 ( online )
18. ↑ ^{a b} Magazine for Environment, Politics and New Economy, issue 01/2009, pages 36–38 ( ZeO2 )
19. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Emslie. Ceratotherium simum. In: IUCN: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2, accessed on November 21, 2011 ( [2] )
20. ↑ SPIEGEL: Rhinoceros exterminated. ( [3] ), Der Spiegel 22/2008, p. 142
21. ↑ Emslie, R. 2011. Ceratotherium simum ssp. cottoni. In: IUCN: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2, accessed on November 21, 2011
22. ↑ Ceratotherium simum ssp. cottoni on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .
23. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rupert Norman Owen-Smith: The behavioral ecology of the white rhinoceros. Dissertation Abstracts International 34 (10), 1974, pp. 5256-5257
24. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Petra Kretzschmar: Ecological, endocrinological and ethological investigations of female mate choice in free-ranging white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, 2002, p. 109
25. ↑ ^{a b} Angela M. White, Ronald R. Swaisgood and Nancy Czekala: Ranging patterns in white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum simum: implications for mating strategies. Animal Behavior 74 (2), 2007, pp. 349-356, doi: 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2006.12.011
26. ^ Rupert Norman Owen-Smith: Territoriality: The example of the White rhinoceros. Zoologica Africana 7 (1), 1972, pp. 273-280
27. ↑ Maliki B. Wardjomto, Jozua J. Viljoen, Mike D. Panagos and Gerard Malan: Floristic characteristics of foraging patches of white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) in the Songimvelo Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga Province. 45th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa 2010, p. 123
28. ↑ Herman Jordaan, Leslie R. Brown and Kerry Slater: Habitat utilization of white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve. 45th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa 2010, pp. 122-123
29. ↑ Petra Kretzschmar, Hailie Auld, Peter Boar, Udo Gansloßer, Candace Scott, Peter John van Coeverden de Groot and Alexandre Courtiol: Mate choice, reproductive success and inbreeding in white rhinoceros: New insights for conservation management. Evolutionary Applications, 2019, doi: 10.1111 / eva.12894
30. ↑ Petra Kretzschmar Udo Gansloßer and Martin Dehnhard: Relationship between androgens, environmental factors and reproductive behavior in male white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Hormones and Behavior 45 (1), 2004, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1016 / j.yhbeh.2003.08.001
31. ^ Alan Dixson, Nancy Harvey, Marilyn Patton and Joanna Setchell: Behavior and reproduction. In: WV Holt, AR Pickard, JC Rodger and DE Wildt. (Ed.): Reproductive science and integrated conservation. Cambridge, 2003, pp. 24-41
32. ↑ Colin P. Groves: The Rhinos - Tribal History and Kinship. In: Anonymous (ed.): The rhinos: Encounter with primeval colossi. Fürth, 1997, pp. 14-32
33. ↑ Natasha de Woronin: White Rhino calv pounced upon by lion. Ecological Journal 3, 2001, p. 65
34. ↑ Akira Ito, Wouter Van Hoven, Yutaka Miyazaki and Soichi Imai: New entodiniomorphid ciliates from the intestine of the wild African white rhinoceros belong to a new family, the Gilchristidae. European Journal of Protistology 42, 2006, pp. 297-307
35. ↑ Cheryl Sangster, Benn Bryant, Michelle Campbell-Ward, Jessica S. King and Jan Šlapeta: Neosporosis in an aborted Southern White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) fetus. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 41 (4), 2010, pp. 725-728
36. ↑ Angkana Sommanustweechai, Montakan Vongpakorn, Tanit Kasantikul, Jedsada Taewnean, Boripat Siriaroonrat, Mitchell Bush, and Nopadon Pirarat: Systemic Neosporosis in a White rhinoceros. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 41 (1), 2010, pp. 164-167
37. ↑ D. Govender, MC Oosthuisen and BL Penzhorn: Piroplasm parasites of white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) in the Kruger National Park, and their relation to anemia. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 82 (1), 2011, pp. 36-40
38. ↑ ^{a b} Christelle Tougard, Thomas Delefosse, Catherine Hänni and Claudine Montgelard: Phylogenetic Relationships of the Five Extant Rhinoceros Species (Rhinocerotidae, Perissodactyla) Based on Mitochondrial Cytochrome b and 12S rRNA Genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19, 2001, pp. 34-44
39. ↑ Dirk A. Hooijer: Rhinocerotidae. In: Vincent J. Maglio, VJ and HBS Cooke (Eds.): Evolution of African mammals. Cambridge (Mass.), London, Harvard University Press, 1978, pp. 371-378
40. ↑ Platthew George, Jr .; Lydia A. Puentes and Oliver A. Hyder: Genetic difference between the subspecies of the white rhinoceros. In: HG Kloes and R. Frese: International studbook for the African rhinoceroses, December 31, 1982, No. 2. Berlin, Zoologischer Garten, 1983, pp. 60–67 ( PDF )
41. ^ Richard Lydekker The white rhinoceros. The Field 2878, February 22 1908, p. 319
42. ↑ Ivana Cinkova and Richard Policht: Contact Calls of the Northern and Southern White Rhinoceros Allow for Individual and Species Identification. PLoS ONE 9 (6), 2014, p. E98475, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0098475
43. ^ Martin Brooks: African Rhino Specialist Group report. Pachyderm 48, 2010, pp. 8–15 ( online )
44. ↑ Eric H. Harley, Margaretha de Waal, Shane Murray and Colleen O'Ryan: Comparison of whole mitochondrial genome sequences of northern and southern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum): the conservation consequences of species definitions. Conservation Genetics, 2016, doi: 10.1007 / s10592-016-0861-2
45. ↑ Colin P. Groves, FPD Cotterill, Spartaco Gippoliti, Jan Robovský, Christian Roos, Peter J. Taylor and Dietmar Zinner: Species definitions and conservation: a review and case studies from African mammals. Conservation Genetics, 2017, doi: 10.1007 / s10592-017-0976-0
46. ↑ TJ Robinson, V. Trifonov, I. Espie and EH Harley: Interspecific hybridisation in rhinoceroses: Confirmation of a Black x White rhinoceros hybrid by karyotype, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and microsatellite analysis. Conservation Genetics 6, 2005, pp. 141-145
47. ↑ Pierre-Olivier Antoine, Maeva J. Orliac, Gokhan Atici, Inan Ulusoy, Erdal Sen, H. Evren Çubukçu, Ebru Albayrak, Nes¸ e Oyal, Erkan Aydar and Sevket Sen: A Rhinocerotid Skull Cooked-to-Death in a 9.2 Ma-Old Ignimbrite Flow of Turkey. PLOSone 7 (11), 2012, p. E49997
48. ↑ ^{a b c} Denis Geraads: Pliocene Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from Hadar and Dikika (Lower Awash, Ethiopia) and a revision of the origin of modern African rhinos. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (2), 2005, pp. 451-461
49. ↑ Esperanza Cerdeño: Diversity and evolutionary trends of the the family Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla). Palaeo 141, 1998, pp. 13-34
50. ↑ Luca Pandolfi, Antonella Cinzia Marra, Giuseppe Carone, Leonardo Maiorino and Lorenzo Rook: A new rhinocerotid (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from the latest Miocene of Southern Italy. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology, 2019, doi: 10.1080 / 08912963.2019.1602615
51. ↑ JM Harris: Family Rhinocerotidae. In: JM Harris (Ed.): Koobi Fora Research Project. Volume 2. The fossil ungulates: Proboscidea, Perissodactyla, Suidae. Oxford, 1983, pp. 130-155
52. ^ WF Gowers: The classical rhinoceros. Antiquity 24, 1950, pp. 61-71
53. ↑ ^{a b c} L. C. Rookmaaker: Why the name of the white rhinoceros is not appropriate. Pachyderm 34, 2003, pp. 88-93
54. ↑ Rhino Resource Center: White Rhino Scientific names. ( [4] ), RRC, June 18, 2017
55. ↑ International Rhino Foundation: 2019 state of the Rhino. ( [5] ), International Rhino Foundation, August 19, 2020
56. ↑ VBIO: A rhinoceros disappears from nature forever. VBio, press release of May 21, 2008 (no longer available)
57. ↑ ^{a b c} Christian Matschei: keeping and breeding of northern white rhinos in zoos. Ursus, Bulletin of the Zoo Association and the Schwerin Zoo 15 (1), 2009, pp. 43–49 ( PDF )
58. ↑ “Save the Elephants!” TV documentary, Great Britain, 2007; Broadcast on March 26, 2010, ARTE
59. ↑ ^{a b c} Ol Pejeta Conservancy: Northern White Rhinos. ( [6] ), Ol Pejeta Conservancy
60. ↑ Ol Pejeta Conservancy: The Conservancy. ( [7] ), Ol Pejeta Conservancy
61. ↑ ^{a b c} reports on www.olpejetaconservancy.org (no longer available)
62. ↑ Ol Pejeta Conservancy: Plan B for Breeding is Looking Up! ( [8] ), Ol Pejeta Conservancy, March 31, 2014 (web archive)
63. ↑ ^{a b} STANDARD: Northern white rhinos before extinction. ( [9] ), derstandard.at, October 19, 2014
64. ↑ San Diego Zoo: Elderly Northern white rhino passes away at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. ( [10] ), San Diego Zoo, December 16, 2014 (web archive)
65. ↑ STERN: Only four white rhinos left - worldwide. ( [11] ), stern.de, July 28, 2015
66. ↑ SPIEGEL: Nola, icon of the animal world, is dead. ( [12] ), spiegel.de, accessed on November 23, 2015
67. ^ FAZ: The last male northern white rhinoceros in the world died. ( [13] ), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 20, 2018
68. ↑ BBC: Rhino dies: Sudan was the last male northern white. ( [14] ), bbc, March 20, 2018
69. ↑ ^{a b} SPIEGEL: Northern white rhinoceros: salvation for the last three of their kind? ( [15] ), spiegel.de, October 2, 2017
70. ↑ Jana Schlütter: The last of their kind: MDC Berlin ( [16] )
71. ↑ Thomas B. Hildebrandt, Robert Hermes, Silvia Colleoni, Sebastian Diecke, Susanne Holtze, Marilyn B. Renfree, Jan Stejskal, Katsuhiko Hayashi, Micha Drukker, Pasqualino Loi, Frank Göritz, Giovanna Lazzari and Cesare Galli: Embryos and embryonic stem cells from the white rhinoceros. Nature Communications 9, 2018, p. 2589, doi: 10.1038 / s41467-018-04959-2
72. ↑ ^{a b} Jim Feely: Black Rhino, White rhino: what's in a name? Environment 6, 2011, pp. 36-37

Web links

Commons : White Rhinoceros  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Ceratotherium simum in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2006. Posted by: African Rhino Specialist Group, 2003. Retrieved on 11 May, 2006.