Perissodactyla is an order of ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three families: Equidae, Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses), and Tapiridae (tapirs). They typically have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three or one of the five original toes, though tapirs retain four toes on their front feet. The nonweight-bearing toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or positioned posteriorly. By contrast, artiodactyls bear most of their weight equally on four or two of the five toes: their third and fourth toes. Another difference between the two is that odd-toed ungulates digest plant cellulose in their intestines, rather than in one or more stomach chambers as even-toed ungulates, with the exception of Suina, do.
In Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo. They are examples of charismatic megafauna, featuring prominently in popular culture, and are among the most famous of Africa's large animals. The term was coined by big-game hunters, and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot but is now more widely used by game viewing tourists and safari tour operators.
The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Although the species is referred to as black, its colours vary from brown to grey. It is the only extant species of the genus Diceros.
A rhinoceros, commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae; it can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species of the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea. Two of the extant species are native to Africa, and three to South and Southeast Asia.
Diceros is a genus of rhinoceros containing the living black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and at least one extinct species.
The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists of two subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 16803 wild-living animals, and the much rarer northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies has very few remaining individuals, with only two confirmed left in 2018, both in captivity. Sudan, the world's last known male Northern white rhinoceros, died in Kenya on 19 March 2018 at age 45.
The eastern black rhinoceros, also known as the East African black rhinoceros, is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros. Its numbers are very low due to poaching for its horn, and it is listed as critically endangered.
The western black rhinoceros or West African black rhinoceros is an extinct subspecies of the black rhinoceros. It was declared extinct by the IUCN in 2011. The western black rhinoceros was believed to have been genetically different from other rhino subspecies. It was once widespread in the savanna of sub-Saharan Africa, but its numbers declined due to poaching. The western black rhinoceros resided primarily in Cameroon, but surveys since 2006 have failed to locate any individuals.
The south-central black rhinoceros, also known as the south-central hook-lipped rhinoceros or the lesser black rhino, is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros. In keeping with the rules of zoological nomenclature, the south-central black rhinoceros should be known as Diceros bicornis keitloa, a nomen novum. Although it is the most numerous of the black rhinoceros subspecies, it is nevertheless designated as critically endangered on the IUCN’s red list. Like other black rhinoceros subspecies, it has a prehensile lip and lives in savanna habitat.
The south-western black rhinoceros is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros, living in southwestern Africa. It is currently listed as near threatened by the IUCN. The biggest threat towards the subspecies is illegal poaching.
The southern black rhinoceros, southern hook-lipped rhinoceros or Cape rhinoceros is an extinct subspecies of the black rhinoceros that was once abundant in South Africa from the Cape Province to Transvaal, southern Namibia, and possibly also Lesotho and southern Botswana. Zoos, animal sanctuaries and conservation centers use this same scientific name as an indicating reference to the surviving south-central black rhinoceros. This former species was brought to extinction by excessive hunting and habitat destruction around 1850.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a private, animal sanctuary in Uganda. Established in 2005 to re-introduce Southern White Rhinos in the wild, the sanctuary is the only place in the country, where one can observe these endangered creatures in the wild. The sanctuary is collaborative effort between Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch, who own the land on which the sanctuary sits and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the government agency responsible for protecting Uganda's wildlife resources. As of June 2021, the ranch was home to 33 rhinos.
Ruma National Park is the only terrestrial park in Kenya's Nyanza Province. Dubbed the "Last Retreat of the Roan Antelope", the park protects the only indigenous population of rare roan antelopes within Kenya. At present, the population is on the verge of extinction with individual populations numbering approximately 40. The park was established in 1966 as Lambwe Valley Game Reserve. It was later renamed “Ruma” after one of Kenya's most powerful wizard, the much feared Gor Mahia who lived around the park. The park is located in the vast Lambwe Valley.
The southern white rhinoceros, or southern white rhino is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros. It is the most common and widespread subspecies of rhinoceros.
The Northern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets are a tropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands ecoregion in eastern Africa. The ecoregion is mostly located in Kenya, extending north into southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda and southwestern Ethiopia and south into Tanzania along the Kenya-Tanzania border.
Grewia similis is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, eastern Tropical Africa, and Ethiopia. It is the preferred browse species of eastern black rhinoceroses.
Diceros praecox is an extinct species of rhinoceros that lived in Africa during the Pliocene, around 4 million years ago. It is considered the direct ancestor of the living black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis).
The north-eastern black rhinoceros is an extinct subspecies of the black rhinoceros that was native to central Sudan, parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia. Its Somalian range was the last to be eradicated, officially wiping out the doomed rhinoceros subspecies sometime in the 20th century.
