Historical distribution of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) in West Africa

The historical distribution of the black rhinoceros has recently been mapped as occurring as far west as Senegal. The accuracy of the extent of this range is investigated. The rhinoceros is depicted in west-central Africa on maps prepared in the early 16th century and it was included in an engraving published by Marees in 1602. There are rock paintings dated 2000 years B.P. in the far north of Niger. In recent times, the occurrence of the rhinoceros has been substantiated in northern Nigeria and eastern Niger on the shores of Lake Chad. However, evidence from regions farther west is circumstantial. Footprints of the rhinoceros were seen by the German traveller Heinrich Barth west of the Niger River in 1853. The animal was allegedly killed in Bouna (Ivory Coast) in 1905. Local names for the animal were recorded in the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Liberia. It is suggested that the western border of the historical distribution of the black rhinoceros is either in western Niger, or more likely in north-central Nigeria.