A peaceful giant
Weighing in excess of 3 tons, the white rhinoceros is the second heaviest land mammal after the elephant, and equal to the hippopotamus. Though it appears placid, it can charge at more than 40 km/h if it feels threatened!
In recent years, the rhinoceros has been the victim of a massive increase in poaching: over 1000 are being killed every year! Its horns are taken and sold for use in traditional Chinese medicine for their supposed medicinal properties. At this rate, rhinos may be extinct in the wild by 2026. La Barben zoo is working hard to prevent this from happening, by supporting the organisation Save The Rhino.
Three white rhinos (one male and two females) live at La Barben zoo, in a large enclosure together with the blue wildebeest, the East African oryx and the springboks. You might be lucky enough to see them having a mudbath, one of their favourite activities!
Species in the EEP