Black rhinos are actually grey — not black! Their name may come from the dark colour of the wet soil they sometimes wallow in, or simply to tell them apart from white rhinos. The easiest way to tell the two species apart is by their lips: black rhinos have a pointed, hooked lip for grabbing branches from bushes, while white rhinos have a wide, flat lip for grazing on grass.
Namibia's desert-adapted black rhinos are extraordinary because they have learned to survive in the rocky, dry landscape of Damaraland with very little water. These rhinos can walk huge distances — up to 50 kilometres in a single night — between waterholes. They are excellent at finding water and remembering where it is across a vast territory.
Community conservancies in Namibia have been a huge success story for black rhinos. Local communities work as rhino rangers and custodians, protecting the animals in their area and benefiting from wildlife tourism. Because communities have taken ownership of protecting rhinos, numbers have grown steadily — a wonderful example of people and wildlife thriving together.
A baby black rhino is called a calf, and mothers are extremely protective of their young. Calves stay with their mothers for two to four years, learning all the skills they need to survive — which plants are safe to eat, where the waterholes are, and how to navigate the rocky terrain. A young rhino has a lot to learn!