White rhinos are the second largest land mammal and their name comes from the Afrikaan’s, a West Germanic language, word “weit” which means wide and refers to the animal’s mouth designed for grazing. It was misread as white and accordingly the other African species with the hooked upper lip (for browsing rather than grazing) was named black. The names have nothing to do with skin color as some have alleged. The latter is smaller but more aggressive and has been observed attacking trees and termite mounds.
I never knew the origins of the white rhino's name. I just looked to educate myself: adult rhinos have no natural predators (except humans), while the small ones are at risk from hyenas, big cats, crocodiles and wild dogs. Adult rhinos have rarely been killed by elephants.
That's true. Elephants that have had the benefit of their mother have been taught that rhinos aren't their enemies. I recall at a sanctuary where baby elephants and rhinos were playing together. The elephants' mothers were present also. But at that same sanctuary were baby elephants whose mothers were killed and thus separated from their infants. The workers pampered the babies but obviously didn't have a clue about proper deportment. The five orphans bonded and when they reached "adolescence" became bullies, actually killing adult rhinos by flipping them on their sides and "kneeling" on them. The workers had to keep the two species separated.
So what sanctuary were you at? I read that exact "elephants kill rhino only when orphaned" causal issue that you recounted, but I did not include it because it was only one source.
JB, I was never at any sanctuary. This was something reported on one of those TV shows focusing on fauna. I ain't an expert or any type of ethological scientist. Ethology is a special interest but all info is gleaned from the Internet, TV, and books. Sorry if I misled.
Nah, you didn't mislead. As I say, I read the exact same thing about orphaned elephants killing rhinos. One can understand being born with no idea of the dangers out there and learning the hard way, but to kill an animal because it's mistaken as "enemy" with no bad experience or context whatsoever is rather interesting.