Yes perturbations are a genetic weakness in rhinos; also called watermelon bears among Bushmen, Hadzabe and the bronze age Nuba peoples as per ancient myth and rock paintings. Interestingly, a hand made four thousand year old watermelon bear shoe was discovered in a steep cave recently along with bow legged bear rider bones. This stuff is just amazing to me.
It seems that she first punctures the suspected food, then half-closes her eyes as she smells it (probably to confirm it is food) and it smells....FANTASTIC! Cool, sweet, wet. It might be a favorite smell with lots of happy favorite memories, too, not just "Hey, it's snacks!".
Jozi and King sure got the better of those watermelons. It was great to visit them (along with various other species) at the zoo on my birthday today. ^^
I like how cartoonish this scenario is. A rhinoceros in the sun on a nice day in a forest-like area, using its horn to open a nice watermelon. Sounds like the intro to an old folktale.
They are actually so cute, did you know when frightened or hurt, they squeek like little puppies and sound so cute too lol I have seen a honey badger chasing some and they squeeked and sounded like little puppies or even some like kittens, was weird. Love them!
The African rhino's are superisingly only aggressive in Africa because of their predator neighbors,but in zoos the keepers say there just big lap dogs...but the keepers are still careful.
Can really see their high level of intelligence in this video, including their social interaction and emotional response to the pleasure of eating it. I love how they take the time to prepare it to maximize enjoyment, a high level mammal intelligence.
