The White Rhinoceroses

Both black and white rhinoceroses are actually gray in color. The term “white” or “black” refer to their lips instead of their color.  The black rhino has a pointed upper lip, while its white relative has a squared lip. The difference in lip shape is related to the animals' diets. Black rhinos get most of their sustenance from eating trees and bushes. They use their lips to pluck leaves and fruit from the branches. White rhinos graze on grasses, walking with their enormous heads and squared lips lowered to the ground.

White rhinos live on Africa's grassy plains, where they sometimes gather in groups of as many as a dozen individuals. Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years. Their single calf does not live on its own until its about three years old.

Under the hot African sun, white rhinos take cover by lying in the shade. Rhinos are also wallowers. They find a suitable water hole and roll in its mud, coating their skin with natures own bug repellent and sun block.
Rhinos have sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell. They may find one another by following the trail of scent each enormous animal leaves behind it on the landscape.


White rhinos have two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches (eight centimeters) a year, and have been known to grow up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.

The prominent horn for which rhinos are so well known has been their downfall. Many animals have been killed for this hard, hair-like growth, which is revered for medicinal use in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The horn is also valued in North Africa and the Middle East as an ornamental dagger handle.

The white rhino once roamed much of sub-Saharan Africa, but today is on the verge of extinction due to poaching fueled by these commercial uses. Only about 11,000 white rhinos survive in the wild, and many organizations are working to protect this much loved animal.

Come with the Photographer's Lounge as we go and see the white rhino when we visit Africa in 2013. In 2013 our plans to visit Africa are listed below. Check out these tours where the white rhino still live.

Tanzania with Rick Sammon in April of 2013

Namibia in October of 2013

Kenya in November of 2013

Namibia in April of 2014

Tanzania with Denise Ippolito in May of 2014

Species Spotlight - Rothschild Giraffe

The Rothschild Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) is one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies. There are only a few hundred members in the wild. The name comes from famous, Lord Walter Rothschild and is also known as the Baringo Giraffe, after the Lake Baringo area of Kenya, or as the Ugandan Giraffe.  All of those that are living in the wild are in protected areas in Kenya and Uganda. In 2007, it was proposed that the Rothschild Giraffe is actually a separate species from other giraffes and not a giraffe subspecies.

While giraffes in general are classified as least concern, the Rothschild Giraffe is at particular risk of hybridisation, as the population is so limited in numbers. There are very few locations where the Rothschild Giraffe can be seen in the wild, with notable spots being Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya and Murchison Falls National Park in northern Uganda.

You can join me and see this wonderful animal as we head to Lake Nakuru National Park to see these stunning creatures in November of 2013. http://www.photographers-lounge.com/photo-tours/our-2013-photo-tours/kenya-safari

There are various captive breeding programs in place— notably at the Giraffe center in Nairobi, Kenya—which aim to expand the gene pool in the wild population of the Rothschild Giraffe. As of January 2011, more than 450 are kept in ISIS registered zoos (which does not include the Nairobi Giraffe Centre), making it the most commonly kept subspecies of giraffe together with the Reticulated Giraffe. Of those, almost 50 are the result of births within the last year.

Rothschild Giraffes are easily distinguishable from other subspecies. The most obvious sign is in the colouring of the coat. Where the Reticulated Giraffe has very clearly defined dark patches with bright whitish channels between them, the Rothschild Giraffe more closely resembles the Masai Giraffe. However, when compared to the Masai Giraffe, the Rothschild subspecies is paler, the orange-brown patches are less jagged and sharp in shape and the connective channel is of a creamier hue compared to that seen on the Reticulated Giraffe. In addition, the Rothschild Giraffe displays no markings on the lower leg, giving the impression that it is wearing white stockings.

SmugMug Raises Rates... wow, its quite a jump

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