The Rhinoceros
I'll round out the "big five" with the Rhinoceros. Definitely one of the oddest looking creatures on my trip in South Africa. Although I have seen plenty of images of Rhinos it just wasn't the same as seeing one up close. They are massive animals and almost ironically they are Herbivores. When we found this Rhino it was grazing in an open field.
Rhinos are all the rave right now in Africa because they are being wiped off the planet by hunters at a fast pace. An unfounded rumor started some time ago about their horns having an aphrodisiac quality in China and trade on the black market has sky rocketed. Rhino poachers are determined to make them extinct it would seem. They are considered to be critically endangered. We were lucky enough to see a handful of them (OK I realize that doesn't make sense...how about 5 or 6?).
Notice the light colored section on the right cheek of this Rhino - it is exposed tissue from a fight with another Rhino. When we noticed that our guide backed up to get a look at the Rhinos behind. He said that if there was a wound there he would have been the loser of the fight taking a horn in the rear end while running away. There was no wound leaving us to believe he had probably won the disagreement. But not without his scars. If you look closer at his face around the eyes you can find more bleeding wounds. How I wished I could have witnessed that fight!
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