White Rhino Bull Attacks a Mother Rhino and Her Tiny Calf

When it comes to protecting our young ones in life, there are a few things that we would not do to ensure their safety and protection. Well, the wild animal kingdom is filled with examples of mothers coming to the aid of their young ones from potential predators. However, predators may be closer to home than one might think. In many cases, the potential harm is so close to home that it can even be within the family or within that animal species. 

South Africa Rhino Attack

This next video takes us to Southern Africa at a game reserve, where we see just a situation. Exhilarating footage captured shows a large white bull rhinoceros that messes with a mother rhino and her tiny calf. This YouTube video, to date, has received over six million views. The group who captured this footage offers their description of events below. 

“A baby white rhino suckles its mother in a game reserve in southern Africa.  A large bull rhino appears and within moments the atmosphere turns. The bull starts to spray-mark territory around the still-suckling mother and calf.  It then turns on the mother, to the evident terror of the calf. Then it attacks the calf.  In the following moments, the calf is thrown into the air by the bull, as its mother rushes to its aid. As the calf runs for cover, the bull turns on the mother, driving her backward, and then lifting her front legs clean off the ground.  The battling pair bear down on cars of watching photographers prompting panicked retreat.” 

The video editors share some photographs that they were able to capture as well. At 27 seconds, we first see this large bull rhino appear out of nowhere; at 37 seconds, we see that this rhino is walking away; at 41 seconds, we see the rhino spraying the side of the road to mark his territory; lastly, at 50 seconds the bull turns and faces this mother and her calf. At this point, the rhino charges, and the mother and bull fight for their lives as she attempts to protect her young calf. 

Why are White Rhinos Called White Rhinos?

White rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) of the genus Ceratotherium can be found in Africa. These large mammals weigh anywhere from 1,440-3,600 kilograms (3,168-7,920 pounds). Their skin is a leather-type skin covering. 

While it might seem obvious to us at first that the reason white rhinos are called white rhinos is because they are white. Seems simple, right? However, as we saw in the video below, these white rhinos didn’t appear to be very white. This is because white rhinos can be brown, grey, or even black. So, why are they called “white”? 

Well, according to the International Rhino Foundation, “White rhinoceros is taken from the Afrikaans word describing its mouth: “wyd,” meaning “wide.” They go on to describe that the English settlers took this word “wyd” actually to mean the word “white.” So, that is where we get the name white rhinoceros from.

What Do White Rhinos Eat?

For their incredible weight reaching up to 7,920 pounds, it might be crazy to think about the type of food these animals would eat to keep up with that much weight. However, it may not be quite what we expect at first. 

White rhinos are herbivores. Herbivores are defined by the Qualitative Reasoning Group of Northwestern University as the following. “A herbivore is an animal that gets its energy from eating plants, and only plants.”

So, as herbivores, these large mammals only eat food such as grass, fruit, berries, and leaves. Even though they are herbivores and eat plant matter, they still have to eat a lot to sustain their bodily weight. White rhinos can eat up to 120 pounds of grass per day. 

How Many White Rhinos Are Left?

It is vital for those of us who study animals to keep their population status. Many animals are on the brink of becoming extinct, and it is our responsibility to help conserve the next generation as much as possible so that specific species will not go extinct.

According to the International Rhino Foundation, there are less than 16,000 white rhinos left. Although this number may seem quite small in comparison to how many animals there are in the world today, their conservation status has been set at never threatened. 

In the wild, there are no known animal predators of the white rhino. Humans are the only known predators of the white rhinos in the wild.

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The photo featured at the top of this post is © Volodymyr Burdiak/Shutterstock.com