Rhino safari guide

Rhinos live approximately 35–50 years in the wild under natural conditions. Lifespan depends on species, resources, habitat, and increasingly, protection from poaching.

Adult white rhinos weigh between 1,300 and 2,400 kg (2,800 and 5,300 lb.). In some instances, large males can exceed 2,500 kg, making them the second-largest land mammal after elephants.

Black rhino are smaller than their grazer counterparts, weighing in around 800 to 1,400 kg (1,700 to 3,000 lb.).

Black rhinos are browsers with pointed lips, while white rhinos are grazers with wide, square lips. White rhinos are larger and more social, while black rhinos are smaller and more solitary.

Rhinos are not inherently aggressive but can be defensive. Black rhinos are more likely to charge when startled, but where we track them on foot this is typically done from a safe distance in open landscapes, where visibility is good and only with expert monitors who understand rhino behaviour. 

Rhinos have poor eyesight, typically limited to about 30 metres (100 feet). That said, their sense of smell and hearing are highly developed and are their primary means of detecting threats and navigating their environment.

Rhinos are herbivores. White rhinos graze mainly on short grasses, while black rhinos browse leaves, shoots, and branches from over 200 plant species.

Rhinos are mostly solitary. White rhinos sometimes form small groups called crashes, while black rhinos are typically solitary except for females with calves.

Rhinos communicate through scent marking, vocalisations, and body language. Dung middens and urine sprays signal territory, and are often the first indication that you are in a rhino area. While it’s rare to hear a rhino on safari, sounds include grunts, snorts, and alarm calls.

Rhinos are easiest to see in the dry season (May - October) when they tend to gather around water sources. Early morning and late afternoon game drives and walks offer the highest activity levels.

Rhino sightings are never guaranteed. Even in protected areas, low population densities and large home ranges mean encounters depend on timing, tracking, and conditions.

The top regions to see rhinos where Wilderness has camps are Akagera National Park in Rwanda, the Palmwag Conservancy in Namibia’s Damaraland region, Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia, and Kenya’s Mara Triangle. Additionally, we can also arrange trips to other popular rhino destinations such as Kruger and Etosha national parks. 

Rhinos are poached for their horns, which are illegally traded for ornamental use and traditional medicine. Rhino horn can sell for tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram on the black market.

Rhino poaching for their horns reduces populations. As rhinos typically only give birth to a single calf every two to five years and have a long gestation period of 15 to 18 months, poaching can lead to a negative population growth, especially in small or fragmented populations.

Black rhinos are classified as Critically Endangered, with their population having declined by 85% over three generations, while white rhinos are Near Threatened thanks to intense conservation efforts. The northern white rhino is functionally extinct, with only two individual females remaining.

There are approximately 21,000 rhinos left in Africa. This includes around 15,000 white rhinos and about 6,000 black rhinos.

In areas where Wilderness operates, we focus on a community-first methodology. By partnering with neighbouring conservancies to employ rhino rangers and through local employment in our camps we endeavor to make the protection of rhinos more sustainable and financially viable than poaching. 

Dehorning can reduce poaching risk but is not a complete solution. Rhinos can still be poached for the small part of horn that remains and protection would often still include monitoring and enforcement.

Tourism revenue, such as our safari camps generate, is used to support conservation initiatives and local communities. Tourism also helps communities to see the worth of rhinos beyond poaching, and to value the need to protect them.