Hmm... all food for thought. Afraid my own experience is confined to literature but I wanted to post a few observations...
Black Rhino: One of the other concepts about them is, as I understand, not just their higher level of aggressiveness vs. the White, but also their preferred habitat. They apparently seem to prefer thicker brush for food (being browsers) and security. Wheras the "pick-up" white is an open-ground grazer most of the time. Hence the encounter with Faro were often at close range and by surprise, given his scent and hearing were more accurate than yours....
Myself, I often wonder if the buffalo's standing might also be a little boosted in recent years by the fact that he is the most economical and common of the Big 5 to hunt, and therefore not only frequently more encountered but also by lesser-experienced hunters? Might put up the odds of a bad encounter. Just a thot.
Oh, and on the Grizz question. Also factor in that the species has not been hunted in the Lower 48 for decades, so have less fear of man... and have developed a nasty habit of "Dinner-Bell" syndrome, being attracted to the sound of gunfire in order to rob hunters of their kills. Not many dangerous game animals are actually attracted to the presence of a distracted hunter with his hands deep inside an elk or deer....
