RHINOCEROS FAMILY: Connect to the Heart
Relics of an early era, Rhinoceroses are massive Mammals with barrel-shaped bodies. Noted for their nose horns, these Animals have one large horn curving upwards from their snouts. (Some Rhinos have two.) Rhinos use their horns to boot and butt their attackers. Despite their fearsome appearances, many Rhinos are generally peaceful Animals.
Unfortunately for Rhinos, people hunt Them for their horns. Some Arabs use the horns for ceremonial sheaths for their knives. Between 1969 and 1977, 8,000 Black Rhinos were slaughtered for this use alone. Moreover, some Asians believe that powdered rhino horns have curative powers. To prevent extinction, many Rhinos were placed in fenced sanctuaries. Only recently, have Indian, Black, and White Rhinoceros numbers finally stopped declining.
There are five species of Rhinos. The Black and White Rhinos live in Africa. The name for “white” Rhinos comes from the Afrikaans word, weit which means “wide”, in reference to these rhinos’ wide mouths. Gentle giants, White Rhinos are the most sociable of the Rhinos. Smaller than White Rhinos, Black Rhinos are the most aggressive of the Rhinos. When disturbed, a Black Rhino will charge with great speeds at an unwary observer.
However, Oxpeckers graze on the backs of both White and Black Rhinos with impunity. In Swahili, the Tick-bird (Oxpecker) is called askari wakifaru, “the rhino’s guard”. Besides picking ticks off the rhino’s back, Oxpeckers screech loudly when people approach.
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Copyright: Virginia Carper, Animal Teachers, 2009
From Universal Class, fun self-paced classes taught by me:
Finding Your Animal Teachers
Animals For Everyone: Mammals
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