Tag Archives: rhino

Nibbling and Eating

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As herbivores, white rhinos mainly eat grasses found in their grassland and savannah habitats. They prefer short grasses around 3 to 4 inches tall and use their square lips to crop the grass close to the ground.

Here is a rhino at the North Carolina Zoo nibbling and eating grass.

Rhino Nibbling

Rhino Eating

Grass for Rhino

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White rhinos are grazers, feeding entirely on grasses that they crop with their wide front lip. Their short legs, long head reaching almost to the ground, and wide mouth, combined with a side-to-side head movement, allow them to eat massive quantities of grass.

Here are two herbivore rhinos at the North Carolina Zoo eating grass.

Grass for Rhino

 

Southern White Rhinoceros

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White rhinos are the second-largest land mammal, behind only elephants. Their name comes from the Afrikaans, a West Germanic language, word “weit,” which means wide and refers to the animal’s mouth. Most (98.8%) of the southern white rhinos occur in just four countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.

The Watani Grassland Habitat at the North Carolina Zoo has a spacious area of grass where large rhinos are free to graze on the plants that cover the 40-acre habitat. Rhino horn is made of compressed, fibrous hair made of keratin – the same protein human hair and fingernails are made of. Rhinos reach speeds of 30 mph for short bursts.

Southern White Rhinoceros

Southern White Rhinoceros Closeup

Southern White Rhino