In this post, I want to share a few images of Black and White Rhino which I have been privileged enough to see. I will show you what free roaming wild Rhinos look like and then finish the post with some information on the current poaching crisis.

It is the task of our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

There are five Rhinos species alive today. Two are in Africa, the White and Black Rhinos, and three in Asia, the Greater One-horned, Javan and Sumatran. I will refer to the African rhino species in this post.

The word Rhinoceros comes from two Greek words – rhino (nose) and ceros (horn). There is no difference in colour between the Black and White Rhino but there are many other differences. The White Rhino’s name is thought to have come from the Afrikaans word ‘wyd’ meaning wide when describing its mouth. Both species are essentially gray in colour but the numerous mud baths do create some interesting colorations.

Paleontologists believe that at least 30 genera and 60 different species of Rhino originally existed in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The extinct ‘giraffe -rhinoceros’ was the largest mammal that ever lived reaching 28 feet at head height and may have weighed up to 20 tons. The smallest was the size of a dog. The important element is that they have lived on this planet considerably longer as a species than we have!!!!

The White Rhino

The White Rhino or Square-lipped Rhino has a wide square lip and grazes on ground vegetation, mostly grass. This is the larger of the two African Rhino species and can weigh up to 3 tonnes and stand up to 1.8m at the shoulder. there are two types of White Rhino, the Northern and Southern, but the Northern is effectively extinct in the wild, with a few in captivity.

This female White Rhino and her calf have just finished their mud bath. These Rhinos are pachyderms (thick skinned) and their skin can be as thick as 1.5 cm but their hides are sensitive to insect bites and sunburn, so the application of mud provides a degree of protection.

White Rhinos tend to be the more passive of the two African Rhinos but make no mistake these are powerful and dangerous animals. I watched a video of a White Rhino trans-location where the agitated animal instead of running off into the bush when it was let out of its container turned on a ten ton truck lifting its left back wheel off the ground!!!

When two male White Rhinos decide to have a tangle, it is always an awe-inspiring sight. The previous image shows an older male teaching a youngster some manners. There was a lot of huffing and puffing and much dust but the lesson was learned.

Believe it or not , Rhinos’ closest relatives are other perissodactyls, otherwise known as odd-toed ungulates, such as tapiers, horses and zebras.

Fortunately, neither of these White Rhino males were hurt.

Black Rhino

This is the smaller of the two African Rhino species. It stands around 1.5m to 1.6m at the shoulder and is lighter at around 1000kgs to 1350kgs. What it lacks in weight, it makes up for it aggression and attitude.

The Black Rhino has a hook-like upper lip which is prehensile and used to browse on bushes and low hanging branches for food. My first experience of a Black Rhino came when old family friends, the Condy’s, who at the time lived down the valley in a suburb of Harare, were looking after a Black Rhino calf for about six months. Dr John Condy was involved in Operation Noah, an incredible effort made by many brave and hardy souls tried to save as many animals as possible which were stranded on islands as the waters filling Lake Kariba rose in the early 1960s. In the rescue process a female Black Rhino was darted with a tranquilizer to sedate her in order to move her and her calf to higher, safe, dry land. Unfortunately, once darted she bolted for the water and the rescue team could not lift her out of the water, so she drowned. This left a very small Black Rhino calf, which was subsequently named ‘Rupert’ when he was brought back to Harare to be hand reared by the Condy family. Rupert was probably named after Rupert Fothergill, a key figure in Rhino capture in the early 1960s in Zimbabwe as it now called. A documentary of Rupert the Rhino has recently been made so I will leave you to see what was a fascinating story.

A Rhino’s gestation period is around 15 to 16 months but the calf will stay with its mother for two to three years. Usually the father has nothing to do with raising the calf.  This is why this next image of a male, female and calf Black Rhino all interacting together was, I thought, an unusual sighting.

In the two previous images, initially the female chased the male away but later they were very gentle with each other. In the wildlife documentary entitled ‘Saba and the Rhino’s Secret’, the idea that Black Rhino are mostly solitary is shown to be incorrect. In this documentary numerous ( 12, I think ) congregated in around a waterhole at night in Namibia. The reason for the congregation was for more than water.

Black Rhinos appear to run on their toes and can reach speeds of 35kms per hour which is why you do not want to be caught in the open away from a readily climbable tree. Fortunately, I have never been chased by a Black Rhino other than ‘Rupert’.

Both African Rhino species have poor eyesight but compensate with acute hearing and smell senses.

This Black Rhino heard something and whirled around to get a better sense of where it was.

Once a Black Rhino locks onto your position and starts to approach you ( even when you are on a vehicle) it can be intimidating. Rupert Fothergill who took charge of Rhino capture in Zimbabwe, in the early 1960s, was gored by a Black Rhino in 1965 when it charged his vehicle and its horn went straight through the metal door into his leg.

Rhino use an intricate system of breathing exhalations, grunts and squawks to communicate with each other.

Poaching crisis

The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.

Havelock Ellis

Rhinos have lived on earth for 50 million years and in one century ‘human locusts’ have managed to push them to the point of extinction. Without humans to short-circuit their lives Rhinos can live to 45 years and beyond.  As Dereck Joubert chief executive of Great Plain Conservation notes “there is a battle for Africa’s wildlife raging as we speak, with Rhinos being poached at a rate of one every nine hours with the official number killed in South Africa alone at 1004 in 2013. The unofficial number is probably well over 1000 because we simply do not find them all”.

This Black Rhino bull was found wandering Zimbabwe’s Save Valley Conservancy after poachers shot it several times and hacked off both horns. Veterinarians euthanized the animal because its shattered shoulder could no longer support its weight. Photograph by Brent Stirton/National Geographic

We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children

American Indian Proverb

Rhinos have been brought to the edge of extinction because of the human appetite for their distinctive horns.They have been prized for centuries for their translucent colour when carved and supposed healing properties. The ornamental use of the horn by Muslims and Chinese dates back centuries.

South Africa is home to 80% of Africa’s Rhinos, but 1004 were killed in 2013 alone.

Source: South African Department of Environmental Affairs

Far more pervasive is the use of Rhino horn in traditional medicine systems in many Asian countries. Unlike horns of most animals, the Rhino’s horn does not have a bony core covered by a relatively thin layer of Keratin, Rhino horns are Keratin all the way through. The precise composition of the keratin will vary depending on the Rhino’s diet and geographic location which helps the forensics. Rhino horn is similar in structure to  horses hooves, turtle beaks and the beaks of a number of species of bird. The centre of the horn has dense mineral deposit is of calcium and melanin which protect the core from being degraded by ultra-violet radiation from the sun. Because the outer part is softer it is worn away over time and is effectively sharpened.

The mind-meltingly insane truth is that the slaughter of thousands of rhinos is fueled by a giant lie

Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the “the game belongs to the people.” So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The “greatest good for the greatest number” applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.

— Theodore Roosevelt

I hope you have found this an interesting post and that the destruction of these ancient beings stirs repulse in you to the point where you want to help stop those ‘human locusts’ from stealing our natural treasures. If we don’t, in a few years we will only be able to show our children pictures of the Rhinos. When the Rhinos are gone they will move onto the Elephant and the Lion and leopard – and so the plague goes!!!!!

So what sort of custodians do our generation want to be remembered for??!!!

“A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.”
― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

Seek to understand nature, marvel at its interconnectedness and then let it be.

Have fun

Mike

Please excuse the play on words in the title of this post, the last thing I want to do is personify our avian friends. Crakes are closely related to the Rail family as are Coots, Moorhens, Flufftails and Gallinules. This family of water birds all have a characteristic flick of the tail – not sure why but they do!!

Flufftails look like pigmy Crakes. You will find them in  the Dullstroom area, if you are lucky. The lack of images is testament to my sightings and photographic opportunities of Flufftails.

Crakes are generally secretive birds which frequent marshy areas. There are six types of Crake found in southern Africa, the Baillons, Corn, African, Black, Spotted and Striped.

The Corn, African and Black Crakes are most often seen. You will find the Striped in Zimbs and the Spotted is found in a similar area to the African Crake and is also a rare summer visitor. The Black Crake is the most common and the sightings are most often on the fringes of reed-beds where they open out on pontoons of water-lilies. Crakes are quite capable of lily trotting as a they also have long toes, but not as long as the Jacanas. These secretive birds are easily disturbed and quickly run back into the reeds.

Black Crake looking for insects on the lily pads on on the Chobe River

The striking colouring of the Black Crake is quite something. It you had a blank canvas would you have come up with colouring like that for a relatively secretive marsh bird?

The Black Crake’s lemon yellow beak is an unusual colour in the bush

The Black Crake tends to feed close to the reeds so when it comes out into the open on the lily pads looking for insects and snails, it is a feast for the eyes. Enjoy it because it will not last long. They have no natural defenses other than to hide, so skulking sounds like a pretty reasonable ploy. I have seen Black Crakes along the Chobe, at White River and in the Kruger at Leeuwpan.

Although Crakes are waterbirds they do not have webbed feet but are good swimmers because of their toe-flanges are similar to those of a Coot or Moorhen. Anyone interested in learning more about water birds should go to Marievale just north of Nigel. It does not look great being a derelict gold mine but  the birds seem to congregate there in amazing variety of birds and abundance.

African Crake – an uncommon visitor to Marievale\

Each time I have seen a Crake at Marievale, it has been on  the narrow road through the marsh area. It has also been early in the morning, between six and seven.

African Crake at Marievale – early in the morning

The colouring of the African Crake’s back is cryptic so it is just as well I got to see it on a dew drenched road, as it would have been well camouflaged in amongst dry reeds.

You will also see an African Rail fleetingly, if you are lucky – Marievale always turns up some surprises.

One of the fascinating aspects about the Crakes is they are secretive and do not seem to fly easily when disturbed, yet they undertake long distance flights at night. The  African and  Striped are inter-African migrants and the Corn and Spotted are Paleartic migrants.

Crakes have  broad rounded wings which enable them to take-off almost vertically, a useful skill when you inhabit reed beds. These birds would rather run to hide than fly when disturbed and when they fly their legs dangle down very much like Gallinules, which make the idea of them migrating  quite hard to conceive.

As with most families their members all  have different behaviour. The Black Crake is a co-operative breeder where all group members participate in preening, incubation and chick rearing. On the other side, the Striped are polyandrous, where the female is bigger, noisier and more colourful than the male and has multiple partners. Unlike humans, polyandry is thought to occur in birds where there is high predation of its eggs. A similar tactic is used by brood-parasites like Cuckoos for the same reason.

 I hope your found this blog interesting and that it prompts you to take a closer look at those marsh areas in summertime.

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

Seek to understand nature, marvel at its interconnectedness and then let it be.

Have fun

Mike

This post shows a few images of Egrets and describes some of the usualness, cleverness and uniqueness of these birds. I have added Egrets to my birds category.

The smallest of the white Egrets is the Cattle Egret. It looks different to the other Egrets because of its hunched appearance. The colour of its legs is not a good identifier as it varies so much and can be anything from yellowish-green to black and even red in the early part of breeding season. During its breeding season the males take on an orangy-buff crown and orangy-buff coloured back feathers.

Cattle Egret with an afternoon snack

The Cattle Egret is usually found alongside herbivores such as cattle, buffalo, eland or elephants walking through the grass disturbing insects and small reptiles as the move. Though they are not always found close to water.

Cattle Egret hopping between Hippos

The Cattle Egrets are also known to land on herbivores and pick parasites and ticks off them, much like oxpeckers, which is where they originally got their name as ‘tick birds’.

The small size, yellow bill and hunched stance are important identifying characteristics.

The second smallest of this group is the Little Egret. This character is found close to water, hunting in the water-logged grass or reeds alongside the river or along the water’s edge.

The Little Egret can be recognised by its small size, white feathers, black legs and yellow feet. It looks like it stepped in a puddle of yellow road marking paint.

The Little Egret’s characteristic yellow feet

Another distinguishing feature of this waterside hunter is that it hyperactively dashes back and forth when hunting.

The second largest Egret is the Yellow-billed Egret. This species looks similar to the Great White Egret but there are two important differences in appearance. The gape of the Yellow-billed does not reach behind its eye and its neck does not have the characteristic ‘S’ shape of the Great White Egret.

The Yellow-billed Egret also hunts along the river’s edge

Characteristic ‘S’ shape to the Great White Egret’s neck

Herons and Egrets fly with their necks tucked in unlike storks which fly with their necks extended. The Marabou Stork is an exception. I am not sue what the reason is but you are sure in nature there is a good reason. It probably has to do with aerodynamics as it is significantly shorter than a stork so generating linear flow and reducing air turbulence is more of an issue!

The largest of the white Egrets is the Great White Egret. This Egret looks and behaves very much like a Heron.

Great White Egret perched on a dead log alongside the Chobe River

The key identifying characteristics are its white colour, large size,  yellow bill ( in adulthood but can be green in juveniles), black legs and ‘S’ shaped neck.

The Great White Egret is usually found hunting along a river’s edge.

Egrets like herons have fine wispy feathers on their back during the breding season – the girls like it!!

Little Egret all dressed up in breeding feathers

An interesting feature of Egrets is that their ablutions go beyond preening their feathers to keep them in good condition for flight. They apply a powder from the fraying edges of their feathers over their bodies. The powder attracts dirt which is then preened off later at a later stage.

Herons, Egrets and Bitterns are known as ‘ambush hunters’ who stalk and stab their prey. An Egret’s long neck can recoil and they can stand motionless for long periods before striking when the prey comes within striking distance. The Egret also use foot stirring as a technique to flush out their prey. 

Interestingly, Cattle Egrets seem to hunt in groups but the other Egrets are solitary feeders. Most Egrets though are smart enough to roost and breed in colonies along side Darters, Storks and Openbills. A good example of this can be seen in the trees just above the rapids  but downstream of Mowana Lodge in the Chobe river.

The next time you are at the river’s edge or are watching a herd of buffalo, take a closer look at the Egrets. These elegant and adaptive birds add to the interest and kaleidoscope in front of your eyes. There is a lot more natural intelligence in front of you than you might first realise.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Seek to understand nature, marvel at its interconnectedness and then let it be.

Have fun

Mike