White Rhinoceros

 The white rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) 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 20,405 wild-living animals in 2013, and the much rarer northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies has very few remaining, with only four confirmed individuals left (three females and one male), all in captivity
A popular theory of the origins of the name "white rhinoceros" is a mistranslation from Dutch to English. The English word "white" is said to have been derived by mistranslation of the Dutch word "wijd", which means "wide" in English. The word "wide" refers to the width of the rhinoceros' mouth. So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "wijd" for "white" and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with the narrow pointed mouth, was called the black rhinoceros.

Rhinos as well as elephants and bears hold a special place in my heart as these animals were all part of the wildlife landscape of North Borneo but sadly the Sumatra Rhino is now extinct in the wild of North Borneo, and can only be found in Sumatra. Thank you Niki for for this beautiful

rhino postcard.

Sent: 18 August 2015   Received: 8 September 2015   Travelled: 21 days