Milk composition of a free-ranging white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) during late lactation

The study of the detailed composition of milk is mainly limited to the few commercially exploited animals such as the cow (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), goat (Capra hircus), camel (Camelus bactrianus), water buffalo (Buabalus bubalis) and yak (Bos grunniens) (Jennes and Patton 1976; Oftedal 1984; Park and Haenlein 2004). For most other animals, the information is limited to the content of the major nutrients which are not studied in more detail (Landete-Castillejos et al. 2000; Gjøstein et al. 2004). Regarding the pachyderms, milk of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) has been studied in great detail (McCullagh and Widdowson 1970; Osthoff et al. 2005) as well as the oligosaccharides of the milk of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) (Kunz et al. 1999; Uemura et al. 2006). Regarding the Rhinocerotidae, three studies have led to a good accumulation of data on the milk of the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) (Klos et al. 1972, 1974; Nath et al. 1993), while only the proximate composition has been reported for the milk of the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) (Wallach 1969; Mathews 1973) and proximate and mineral composition for the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) (Gregory et al. 1965). The milk of these animals were characterized by a low total solids content of 81–168 g/kg, consisting of 2–19 g/kg fat, 2–120 g/kg protein and 55–84 g/kg lactose. The fatty acid composition of the milk fat of the Indian rhinoceros was characterized by a high content of capric