A guide’s job is to help you understand what you are seeing in the wild, effectively telling you the story of the bush. 

When training to be a guide, a great technique to help you with taking a sighting is to look at a random photo that you have never seen before, and then interpret what you see, weaving it all into a story.

Here’s our attempt. If you fancy having a go we’d love to hear any of your thoughts.

First things first, even seeing a black rhino is an insane privilege. They are so incredible, so rare, and usually prone to a little excitement which always makes watching them interesting. 

How do we know it’s a black rhino and not a white rhino? Firstly, do you see the two horns, fairly similar in length? The size and height of the head? The roundness of the ears? The big dip in the back? Can you even see some sort of open wound on the front right leg? These are all signs that this is a black rhino. 

White rhino typically have a much longer front horn compared to the rear one, their heads are much longer and held lower to the ground to eat on grass. Their ears are a little pointier, and they have a flatter back. Interestingly black rhino are far more prone to the parasite Filaria, particularly in areas of South Africa, this rhino is up in the northern Serengeti, so we’re not entirely sure whether it is the fly-transmitted parasite or just a cut. 

 One of the ways rhinos try and get rid of flies and other parasites like tics is to give themselves a good old mud-bath. That is exactly what this rhino has just done. Can you see how the rhino’s side is covered in mud which looks to be drying and breaking off? 

Rhinos, as well as elephants, buffalo and warthogs often lie in mud-wallows, which both cools them down, but also helps trap parasites in the drying mud. They will then often head to a rubbing post or tree and scratch them all off.Funny story. I once left my bedroom door open when I was living in the bush and came back to my room covered in mud up to about knee-height. It became obvious from the tracks that a happy warthog had recently bathed and decided that my bed, desk, chairs and wall would be a suitable rubbing post. Lovely…. 

This rhino here looks to be proudly walking across the lush green Serengeti grasses, being watched closely by a herd of topi.

Is there anything interesting that you have noticed? Or anything you want to ask about? 

Feel free to get in touch with any questions or thoughts. Or even if you have a photo you'd like to submit for us to interpret.