The Black Rhino
The Black Rhinoceros or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), is a species of rhinoceros, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. Although the Rhino is referred to as black, it is actually more of a grey/brown/white color in appearance.

The other African rhinoceros is the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). These common names are misleading, as those two species are not really distinguishable by color. The word white in the name "White Rhinoceros" is a mistranslation of the Dutch word wijd for wide, referring to its square upper lip, as opposed to the pointed or hooked lip of the Black Rhinoceros. These species are now sometimes referred to as the Square-lipped (for White) or Hook-lipped (for Black) Rhinoceros.
An adult Black Rhinoceros stands 140–170 cm (55–67 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.3–3.6 m (11–12 ft) in length.[6] An adult weighs from 800 to 1,400 kg (1,800 to 3,100 lb). The females are smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm (20 in) long, exceptionally up to 140 cm (55 in). The longest known horn measured nearly 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. These horns are used for defense, intimidation, and digging up roots and breaking branches during feeding.
For most of the 20th century the continental black rhino was the most numerous of all rhino species. Around 1900 there were probably several hundred thousand[2] living in Africa. During the latter half of the 20th century their numbers were severely reduced from an estimated 70,000[9] in the late 1960s to only 10,000 to 15,000 in 1981. In the early 1990s the number dipped below 2,500, and in 2004 it was reported that only 2,410 black rhinos remained. According to the International Rhino Foundation, the total African population has recovered to 4240 by 2008 (which suggests that the 2004 number was low). In 2002 only 10 West African Black Rhinos remained in Cameroon, and in 2006 intensive surveys across its putative range failed to locate any, leading to fears that this subspecies is extinct, though it is maintained as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
The Black Rhinoceros has been pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal poaching for their horn, and to a lesser extent by loss of habitat. A major market for rhino horn has historically been in the Middle East to make ornately carved handles for ceremonial daggers called jambiyas. Demand for these exploded in the 1970s causing the Black Rhinoceros population to decline 96% between 1970 and 1992. The horn is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, and is said by herbalists to be able to revive comatose patients, cure fevers, and aid male sexual stamina and fertility.MThe purported effectiveness of the use of rhino horn in treating any illness has not been confirmed by medical science. In June 2007, the first-ever documented case of the medicinal sale of black rhino horn in the United States (confirmed by genetic testing of the confiscated horn) occurred at a traditional Chinese medicine supply store in Portland, Oregon's Chinatown.