What is a Northern White Rhino?

The Northern White Rhino, which has survived 55 million years and has seen Ice ages, Earthquakes, meteor strikes and was testament to a numerable historical changes on the planet cause have not survived humans. The great beast is now functionally extinct, with only two female rhinos left.

Northern White Rhino characteristics-

Appearance- Light grey skin with defense, tough, plate like folds.

Diet- Exclusive grayer feeding on short grass in tropical, open savanna woodlands.

Social behavior- They tend to live in smaller groups that the Southern counterparts that often forms a small family groups or living solitary.

Two left standing

As if you haven’t heard yet the Northern White Rhinos are now functionally extinct. What does that mean? Well functionally extinction is when a population is too low to be able to play a significant role in its ecosystem. Meaning that it wouldn’t be able to reproduce. As of now there are only two Northern White Rhinos left that are both females named Najin and her daughter Fatu. Sadly there wouldn’t be another way to save them having them being able to reproduce due to their age and them having health issues. The last male , Sudan that was on Earth was in 2018 and sadly has died.

5 facts about the Northern White Rhinos

1- Unique Physical traits: Compared to the Southern White Rhinos, the Northern Rhinos have longer limbs and a shorter palate and a flatter top of the skull

2- Second Largest land animal: Following the Elephants, The White Rhinos are the second largest land animal. Where the female can weight up to two tonnes (2,000 kg)and as the males they can weight up to 3.5 tonnes (3,500 kg)

3- Slow breeding cycle: Females only give birth to one calf every 3-4 years. Which to me is surprising. They also have long gestation periods of approximately 16 months making the population recovery extremely difficult.

4- Last wild sightling: No Northern White Rhinos have been spotted in the wild since 2006 with their natural habitat being the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

5- Natural sunscreen: As you may not have known, the Northern White Rhinos love to wallow in the mud which helps to protect their skin from sunburn and insects.

Sources- https://www.asiliaafrica.com/blog/what-s-the-difference-between-northern-and-southern-white-rhino/