Rhino Identification Black or White?

[Muntjacer23]

Hi all,

I have been sent this photo of a very very distant family friend with a Rhino taken in Kenya in 1954. Is anybody able to tell me if this is a black or white rhino? I appreciate it’s not the best photo as its mouth is obscured which I understand is the easiest way to ID rhinos.

The man in the photo was a British Soldier in Royal East Kent Regiment during the Mau Mau Rebellion and after leaving the army became the assistant to the professional big game hunter in Kenya

 

[BourbonTrail]

Looks like a black, the forehead is the give away.

 

[Kevin375]

Black rhino.

 

[Muntjacer23]

Looks like a black, the forehead is the give away.

Thanks, interesting to know!

 

[grand veneur]

I think so too, a Black Rhino.

 

[fourfive8]

The photos are a little deceptive. I’d also say black. Blacks have shorter, tighter convex curve to forehead. White’s foreheads have longer sweep with less curve.

 

[AZDAVE]

Black Rhino

 

[Muskox]

Considering its size and not Toyota Van sized, I'd agree.

White rhino are immense.

Black rhino weigh 2000 pounds less for the bulls.

 

[Muskox]

Forgot about that bump on their head.

I'd love to have some Indian rhino, and be involved in rhino conservation. I wouldn't tell a soul I had them though.

My grandfather lived in Bangladesh in the 1960's and hunted (not rhino). Walt Disney World has a really neat attraction with Indian sub-continent game in Orlando at Animal park. Worth visiting.

I need to do a on my own, no wife no kids trip to India and do the tiger parks.

 

[fourfive8]

I’ll maintain that the photo is strongly suggestive but not 100% definitive. The two key anatomical features remain for field identification to separate the black from the white. Those are the short forehead with deep concave curve and the small prehensile upper lip of the black versus the long, less concave forehead and squared upper lip of the white. The photo obscures the definite shape of the upper lip that would give 100% ID but tends to show the shorter more concave forehead of the black.

 

[grand veneur]

I’ll maintain that the photo is strongly suggestive but not 100% definitive. The two key anatomical features remain for field identification to separate the black from the white. Those are the short forehead with deep concave curve and the small prehensile upper lip of the black versus the long, less concave forehead and squared upper lip of the white. The photo obscures the definite shape of the upper lip that would give 100% ID but tends to show the shorter more concave forehead of the black.

I have to agree with you.

I am not a rhino expert, saw in my life only very few in the wild, but last week I was lucky enough to see six white rhinos in the Limpopo game reserve, four bulls and a cow with a calf. One bull with a big horn was standing broadside at dusk and, based on his appearance and the shape of his upper lip from this side of view, could have been mistaken on a picture for a black rhino. I was very surprised.

 

[baxterb]

Black. The distance between the eye and ear is much shorter than a white.

 

[grand veneur]

As I said, it is better one would have to see before some black rhinos in the wild to be able to compare them properly. I have never seen one. A PH once showed me a track in the Gwayi area of Zimbabwe, but that was all.

 

[Sourdough]

Black Rhino. The black has a prehensile lip as it is a browser, feeding by striping leaves off branches. A white rhino is a grazer and as such had a big wide mouth. White is the English translation of the Afrikaans word for wide.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Really cool photo. Sounds like it’s probably a black rhino. Makes it way cooler. Thanks for sharing