the width-lip-rhinoceros is the biggest country-mammal after the elephants, however, it reaches a height of 175-200 cm and a weight until 2300 kg after all. its body-color is slate-gray like they of the pointed-lip-rhinoceros. The misleading name "white rhinoceros" owes the pachyderm of the wrong translation of the Boer word "wijde", what so much like broadly was meant and was transferred (knows) into the English "white."
Physique As grass-gluttons - in contrast to the pointed-lip-rhinoceros -, the width-lip-rhinoceros possesses spreads, bulge-y lips without gripping-fort-sentence. A verhornte edge-edge, with whose help the animals tear off the grass-food, developed parallel to the absence of the edge-teeth at the sub-lip. Like the pointed-lip-rhinoceros, also the width-lip-rhinoceros trains two horns, of which the fore one can gain a length of over 1 m, while the rear one remains far under it. Connective tissue only turns into the massive shape of the rhinoceros particularly through one and musculature of formed neck-humps underlined. Besides at the ear-edges and on the tail-end, width-lip-rhinoceroses are hairless.
Habitat Width-lip-rhinoceroses populate the savannas central, and South Africa, in the sufficiently coverage and shady bush, and forest-thickets must be sprinkled in. They always prefer water-proximity on that occasion. Where these conditions are not given, the animals undertake regular hikes to suitable water and Suhlstellen.
Way of life Width-lip-rhinoceroses live in big community-territories, that they mark through solid, common excrement-places and through spraying from urine. Slowly migrant and grazes they wander through its area and look for Schlammsuhlen regularly in order to protect its skin from parasites. If these Schlammsuhlen dried up, they take extensive dust-baths at same place. Although mainly day-actively, width-lip-rhinoceroses avoid hot sun-no-radiation however direct, burning.
they are the most sociable representatives of the rhinoceros-family, with whom groups of ten animals are no rarity. Usually, these groups get together from mothers with its boys and other females. Bulls are only tolerated as long as they don't undertake any combination-attempts females with not brünstigen. Such a group forms a relatively relaxed association, the single solid relationship consists of the mother-child-relationship, that can last over two years.
Enemy-behavior With outer danger, the group "curls up, that is, the animals form a circle, the backsides to the center directed and the horn-fortified skulls outside the enemy entgegengewendet. Although width-lip-rhinoceroses are regarded as little aggressively, however, they can turn into dangerous opponents, whose main-weapon the long, powerful fore horn is. In rival-fights, bulls with it often wound considerably themselves. While the normal trot-speed is with approximately 15-30 km per hour, the animals can reach up to 40 km at the escape or in the attack in the gallop per hour. Since they see relatively badly like all rhinoceroses, they don't possess any optical expression-behavior and always are unpredictable with it for the human being. its own behavior opposite the human being depends on the experiences for the most part, that the animals did with people. There, where its natural habitat was destroyed by intensive agriculture, they can turn into a nuisance of the agriculture.
Reproduction The only kid comes to the world after a Tragzeit of approximately 490 days. It is capable already 24 hours after the birth to follow the mother. Approximately one year long the mother suckles its young although it takes also grass to itself already one week after the birth. Particularly against bulls, a leading female is aggressive during this time since exactly male animals can become very intolerantly against young. Only after two-and a half to three years, the cow becomes again brünstig and expels its young. Then, it isolates herself from the group and notably frequently marks which leads deck-willing bulls to her on the other hand. After extensive prelude with shredders and appearance-fights, the mating, that can last 20-80 minutes and discharges every three minutes of seed during the bull at times, finally occurs. Not least this fact likes starting point for the superstition, after which pulverizes, shall (rhinoceroses) award earned rhinoceros to the man sexual Kraft!
After the union, the female joins usually again its old group. After the birth of its calf and the first weeks of the Aufzucht joins again to its mother the latter kid also frequently.
Endangering The two ones still today living subtypes, the northern width-lip-rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and the southern width-lip-rhinoceros (C). s. simum, has a moved history behind itself, in which the southern type already came shortly before the final extermination and was saved with fundamental precautions in the Umfolozi-Reservat southeast-Africa at the last minute so to speak. Unfortunately one lost something with all of the worry about the southern width-lip-rhinoceros the originally more frequent, northern form from the view and you give angedeihenlassen the same protective attention, so that the northern width-lip-rhinoceros endangers as extreme today is valid.
Unfortunately, poachers, after the Asian rhinoceroses become ever rarer, resort to the African forms to increasing extents. So also these representatives of the rhinoceros-relative will vanish with the time from the fauna of the earth as long as Wilderei and offenses against nature conservation-laws are broadly still regarded as "cavalier-offenses" and are pursued accordingly half-heartedly.
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