Despite its name, the black rhinoceros is actually fairly light in color with most black rhinoceros individuals having either white or grey skin. The black rhinoceros (also known as the hook-lipped rhinoceros) is a large species of rhinoceros native to Africa. The black rhino is one of three rhinoceros species that has two horns (in addition to the white and Sumatran rhinos). Diceros is derived from Greek and means “two horned.” Bicornis once again means “two horned,” but is Latin. The scientific name for the black rhino is Diceros bicornis.

While black rhino populations are rebounding, the Western black rhino subspecies was declared extinct in 2011.

The San Diego Zoo reports the black rhino can hit 40 miles per hour (64 km/hr), making it one of the fastest large animals on Earth!.

Although critically endangered, black rhino populations have rebounded since hitting a low of just an estimated 2,475 individuals in 1993.

Today, the black rhino is seeing its population rebound and is slowly being reintroduced to countries and environments the species vanished from in recent decades. The black rhino once roamed across a vast range in Africa, but heavy poaching has brought the species to the brink of extinction. With a population that numbered one million at the beginning of the 20th century, today the black rhino is Critically Endangered

Western black rhinoceros extinct