Fascinating facts
Black rhinos are unpredictable and dangerous, and can move at speeds up to 40 miles per hour for short distances! Like horses, rhinos run and walk on their toes.
Physical Characteristics
An adult black rhinoceros can weigh up to 3,000 pounds with a body length of 10 to 12.5 feet. A thick, wrinkled, tough hide protects the rhino as it pushes its way through the thorny acacia trees and bushes it likes to eat. The rhino uses its prehensile (grasping) upper lip to strip nutritious leaves off tough branches.The black rhinoceros is distinguished by two large horns on its nose, the front one being the largest. These horns can measure up to 50 inches in length and are made of hardened compressed hair-like fibers on a bony base. They have small eyes and are extremely nearsighted, making the rhino dangerous and unpredictable, and likely to charge unfamiliar sounds and smells. However, their excellent sense of smell gives them information about their surroundings and helps them detect danger. They have prominent, erect ears that can swivel to pick up even the quietest sounds.
Life span is 16-20 years in the wild.
Habitat/Diet
Black rhinoceros range in eastern and southern parts of Africa (South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe), inhabiting bushy plains, dense brush, open forests, grassy plains and sometimes semi-arid regions. Nearby watering places are essential.Black rhinos are herbivores and are browsers, not grazers. In the wild, they eat bushes and shrubs, preferring acacia, twigs and new growth. At the Zoo, the rhinos are fed a diet of alfalfa, hay, fruits, vegetables, browse and acacia.
Social Behavior
Black rhinos are solitary animals, only coming together to mate. (By contrast, the more gregarious white rhinos only breed successfully when there are small groups). The most lasting bond is between female and their young, the calf staying with the mother for about four years. Rhinos are often accompanied by tick birds and cattle egrets, which feed on insects stirred up by the rhinos’ feet.These rhinos feed morning and evening and sleep in the shade or in a wallow during the hot part of the day. Wallowing in mud helps to keep them cool, and gives them protection from flies and biting insects. They may sleep standing or lying down.
Status in The Wild
Black rhinos are Critically Endangered. Before 1960, the population of black rhinos throughout the eastern and southern parts of Africa was approximately 200,000. Due to large-scale poaching, 95% of the rhinos in existence have now been killed. There are 4,880 black rhinos alive today and most of those are protected by armed guards.Rhinoceros horns are valued by some cultures for folk medicines and for decorative dagger handles. As a result, the black rhino has been hunted nearly to extinction. Although big cats can prey on young rhinos, the adult animal has only one enemy: humans. Rhinoceros populations have also come under pressure as a consequence of bush clearing for agriculture and firewood.
Flickr Tags: Black Rihnos
Elephants may spend 12-18 hours a day feeding. Since elephants are so large, they require an enormous amount of food. Adult elephants can eat between 200-600 lbs of food a day. As herbivores, elephants consume grasses, tree foliage, bark, twigs, and other vegetation daily. Elephants can also drink up to 50 gallons of water a day - about as much as a standard bath tub holds.
teeth. They use these tusks to dig out minerals from the soil and to dig waterholes in dry riverbeds. They excavate the holes using their trunk, tusks, and feet. It is thought that these waterhole locations are passed down from one generation to another.
An African elephant family group can average 8-10 individuals, where as an Asian elephant unit tends to be smaller, averaging 4-8 individuals. 
Male, or bull elephants have very different social needs than do the females. In the wild, males leave or are driven out of the family group as they approach sexual maturity. Males spend as much as 95% of their lives alone or in loose association with other bulls. Though bulls are primarily solitary in adulthood, they do at times associate in bachelor groups. They are often also in chemosensory (scent) and infrasonic communication (low-frequency calls) with other elephants in their area. In early years of adulthood, the young bulls spend time learning the capabilities of other bulls in their area and establish a social hierarchy and status. As they age and grow larger, thus able to compete effectively for breeding opportunities, the bulls appear to spend their time eating and seeking out females. Elephant bull nature is competitive, rather than affiliative. 
movements. Females may also use these calls to announce their willingness to breed.
