White Rhino

Description:

It is commonly known that some animals loves a mud-bath. The reason Rhinos regulary spend time in a mud pool or shallow water is because it is a part of their personal grooming routine. They dont have sweat glands so the mud helps them to keep cool. One other reason is that it helps to keep the skin free from parasites.

Habitat:

Mkhaya game reserve, where there is a breeding programme of endangered species in Swaziland. However, there are also some natural predators in the area, such as leopard, hyena and crocodiles.

Notes:

Terrapine mud turtles that habitats the mud holes helps the cleaning process when animals take a mud bath, by eating ticks from the body parts under surface. Some specific parasite information: The eggs of the Gyrostigma fly, which are minute, oblong shaped and white, are laid in the soft striated indentations of the skin around the neck and head, and after some six days hatch into tiny "inchworms" no larger than the comma of a typewriter. At first it was assumed that these worked their way along to either the nose or mouth of the animal, but in fact, by observing them on our orphans, it was discovered that they simply bore straight through the hide and from there somehow end up within the stomach itself. Most rhinos also have lesions behind the shoulders and under the chin and stomach. These obviously itch and irritate, because they are rubbed against rocks and trees until they become open weeping wounds that stubbornly resist healing. The culprit for these lesions is apparently a filarial worm that again is specific to rhinos in Africa, but is known amongst horses in the far East. The vector of the Rhino filarial worm is thought to be another fly known as Rhinomusca which resembles the common housefly and again is specific to rhinos, feeding on their blood. Rhinomusca flies are often found in and around the filarial lesions, but also easily draw blood through the skin itself. Despite the ancient English saying -"a hide like a rhino", the skin of a rhino is extremely sensitive. Touch a rhino with a feather, and it will immediately respond. Rhino skin has an ample blood supply very close to the surface and, in fact, when the animal is in poor health, the skin "bleeds", coating the animal. in a what looks like tar, but, in fact is dried blood.