Rhino Hunting

Rhino hunting is an expensive business and only a relatively few hunters sport hunt this animal. Both the black and white rhino occur in Africa and both species were saved from extinction by the carefully planned breeding and research programmes run by a variety of game departments, notably the one in Kwa Zulu Natal. These programmes were largely financed by the game departments allowing certain individual males of the species that were too old to breed and were attacking younger males to be sport hunted.

"Rhinos have given me more bad moments - and more laughs - than all other big-game animals together. They are nervous, fretful, itchy, dim-witted creatures with extraordinary hearing, a keen sense of smell, and eyesight so poor that they can see but a few yards beyond their front horns; and half the time those horns interfere with what little vision they do have." Alexander Lake

Rhino Trophy Minimums

Ceratotherium simum simum (White Rhino)
RW Minimum	RW Record	RW Measurement Method	SCI Minimum	SCI Record	SCI Measurement Method
28"	62¹/₄"	15	70"	102⁴/₈"	8

Diceros bicornis (Black Rhino)
RW Minimum	RW Record	RW Measurement Method	SCI Minimum	SCI Record	SCI Measurement Method
24"	53¹/₂"	15	56"	69³/₈"	8

Black Rhino Facts

Habitat And Requirements

Can tolerate a wide range of habitats as long as the criteria of areas of dense bush with water and mud wallows and a canopy of around 4 metres high.
This animal is a browser.

Social Structure

They are usually solitary and only come together for breeding purposes.

Gestation Period

15 months, after which a single calf of approximately 40 kgs is born
No fixed breeding season.

White Rhino Facts

Habitat and Requirements

Prefers grassy areas interspersed with small areas of bush and plentiful water.
Their name does not refer to their colour but to the shape of their mouth - meaning 'wide' in Afrikaans.

Social Structure:

Considerably more passive and sociable than their black cousins.
Territorial bulls defend defined territories against other bulls, but will tolerate subordinate bulls if they remain submissive.
Home range of cows will overlap several bulls territories and when a female comes into oestrus, the territorial bull will try to keep her within his territory.
Once a cow has given birth, she will stay with the father and form a small family unit until the baby is old enough to leave home.
They are very much creatures of habit and will follow the same paths day after day.
This animal is a grazer.

Gestation Period

16 months, after which a single calf of approximately 40 kgs is born.
No fixed breeding season.

Black And White Rhino Gender Identification

It is extremely difficult to see the sexual organs, even from a close range. The female tends to have longer, thinner horns than the male but the most certain way of checking is by watching them urinate and their behaviour after they defecate. The bull will habitually scrape the ground with his hind feet, rather like a domestic dog.

Black And White Rhino Hunting Methods

Usually by tracking on foot.
Rhino, have an excellent sense of hearing and smell, but their eyesight is relatively bad. They make up for this by adopting the policy of charging anything that provokes suspicion.
Large calibres and solid, preferably monolithic solid bullets are essential when hunting these species.
Many hunters used to opt to dart hunt these species simply because the hunts are so expensive. However since 2010, darting rhino by sport hunters has been banned in South Africa.
The late and great hunting author Peter Hathaway Capstick wrote: 'There's only one thing more stupid than a rhino, and that's two rhino'. He wasn't wrong!

A Good Rhino Trophy

Long horns which equates to old age.
Females tend to have longer thinner horns than the males

Rhino Hunting Shot Placement

The heart on these animals (rather like a big cat) is slightly further back and slightly lower than most mammals. Use the half and half rule as usual and you'll find the heart in the lowest quarter.

Rhinoceros Pictures

(Place cursor over photographs to enlarge)

Black Rhino

White Rhino

Recommended Viewing

Capstick: Hunting the White Rhino DVD. Capstick describes the history of the rhinoceros, compares the white and black rhino, and narrates important historical footage of the transplantation program by the Natal Parks Board that was largely responsible for the great increase in the population of white rhinos since 1962. Then the hunting starts for a trophy bull white rhino in the Thabazimbi area of South Africa. 70 mins.