Rhino Glossary
Big Five – the term for the five big animals in Africa which people want to see on safari- lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo.
Browser – a rhino that eats from trees and bushes,
Bull – Male Rhino
Calf – Baby Rhino
Captivity – this refers to animals in a zoo.
Carnivore – an animal which eats only. meat
Conservation – protection of things found in nature.
Cow – Female Rhino
De-horn – the removal of a rhinos horn with a chainsaw, while it is sedated.
Dominant – the strongest one, who is in charge.
Ecosystem – all living things including plant and animals which live in a certain area.
Extinct – when a species dies out, so there are non left on the planet.
Fertile soil – soil which has lots of nutrients (the good stuff needed to make thing grown), so is good for plants.
Germination – when a seed develops into a plant.
Grazer – a rhino that eats grass.
Herbivore – An animals which eat only plants
Keratin – the stuff from which rhino horns and your hair and nails are made.
Keystone species – an animal that has a big effect on its environment, even if there aren’t large numbers of them. Their ecosystem depends on them and would change if they weren’t there.
Midden – a pile of rhino dung (or poo)
Mutualistic relationship – a symbiotic relationship where both species benefit e.g. an Oxpecker eating the ticks off a rhino
Parasites – small creatures which live on other, usually larger animals, such as ticks or fleas.
Parasitic relationship – where one species benefits, but may harm the other. e.g. a tick on a rhino. The parasite is normally small and irritating.
Omnivore – an animal which eats both plants and other animals.
Poaching – illegal killing of animals to sell things like horns, tusks, scales and skins or as bush meat.
Predators – Animals which hunt other animals for food.
Rehabilitation – to make a rhino fit and strong again
Re-wild – to release an animal back intothe wild after rehabilitation.
Sedation – Medicine which makes the rhino go to sleep for a while, so vets and rhino teams can help the rhino.
Solitary – lives alone
Species – a word for a type of living thing e.g. humans, dogs, cats
Spoor – animal tracks or footprints
Symbolic relationship – when two different species live together.
Territory – the area a rhino calls home and protects from other rhinos.
Undigested – food which hasn’t been absorbed by the body of an animal e.g. seeds which pass through an animal and stay as whole seeds in their dung.
Vet – an animal doctor
Vet Nurse – an animal nurse
Wallowing – rolling in the mud
Waterhole – a hollow in the ground which collects water. It is a place for animals to drink and bathe.