As a non-ruminant herbivore, the white rhinoceros has the ability to utilize fibrous plant matter through microbial fermentation in the hindgut. So far, there has been no report using molecular techniques to study the gut microbiota of the white rhinoceros. We used barcoded pyrosequencing to characterize 105,651 sequences of 16S rRNA genes obtained from fecal samples from five white rhinoceroses. Results showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the predominant phyla in the samples, which were comprised largely of unclassified bacteria. The microbiota of one animal treated with drug therapy differed from those in other healthy animals, and was dominated by Aerococcus -related bacteria. The core microbiota in the healthy rhinoceros were dominated by phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, represented by the Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Rikenellaceae and Prevotellaceae families. The present work provides a phylogenetic framework for understanding the complex microbial community of the rhinoceros; however, further studies are required to link the distinctive microbiota with their digestive role in the hindgut of the white rhinoceros.
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