Zoo database

White rhinoceros

Ceratotherium simum

Natural diet White rhinoceros

Grasses

White rhinos are herbivorous grazers that feed almost exclusively on short grasses. In the wild, they spend around half of their day searching for food. They can go without water for around 4 days but prefer to drink around twice a day.

Feeding advice White rhinoceros

Feed quantity per day

1-3% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 2000 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

2000 x 0.02 = 40 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

10% Concentrates
90% Grass, lucerne and other roughages

Proportions (fresh product)

0.1 x 40 kg = 4000 g concentrates
0.9 x 40 kg = 36000 g grass, lucerne and other roughages

Diet suggestions

In moderation

Lucerne hay

Not recommended

Fruits
Vegetables
Cereals
Grain products
Alfalfa pellets

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughages.
The ratio between grass hay and lucerne hay should be 80:20 (read more about browsers and grazers).
It is not recommended to feed the rhinos from the ground since they might ingest sand which increases the risk of colic.
Hang or hide the feed (not in sand) to reduce the risk of colic and increase foraging behaviour (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Hypophosphataemia
Farmer’s lung condition
Skin and foot lesions
Laminitis
Colic

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

Boskos Grazer

Grazer pellets

Jeroen Hartman

Team leader Warehouse