🐾 Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Rhinocerotidae (family); five living species such as the white rhino Ceratotherium simum
• Family & relatives: Members of the rhino family (Rhinocerotidae), part of the odd-toed hoofed mammals alongside horses and tapirs.
• How to spot it: Recognize it by its huge barrel body, short legs, thick folded gray or brown skin, and horn (or two) on the nose.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Shoulder height ranges from about 1.4 to 1.9 m (4.6 to 6.2 ft) depending on the species.
• Weight: Weights range from about 700 kg in the Sumatran rhino to over 2,300 kg (1,500 to 5,000 lb) in the white rhino.
• Body & adaptations: Its horn is made of keratin, the same material as hair and nails, not bone, and its thick skin acts like armor.
• Top speed: Despite its bulk it can charge at up to about 50 km/h (31 mph), and the black rhino is especially quick.
• Strength: It can flip or overturn objects and defend itself with a powerful horn thrust from its heavy head.
• Senses: Its hearing and sense of smell are excellent, but its eyesight is poor, so it may charge at surprises.
• Growing up: A single calf is born after a long pregnancy, can walk within hours, and stays with its mother for two to four years.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Depending on species, it lives in African grasslands and savannas or Asian forests and swamps.
• Where in the world: Found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa (white and black rhinos) and South and Southeast Asia (Indian, Javan, Sumatran).
• Territory: Males often defend a territory marked with dung piles, while females roam larger overlapping ranges.

What it eats

• Diet: A plant-eater (herbivore) that grazes or browses vegetation and needs to drink regularly.
• Favorite foods: White rhinos graze grasses with wide flat lips, while black rhinos browse leaves and twigs with a hooked lip.
• How it hunts: It forages for hours, using its lips to gather food, and often wallows in mud to cool off and block insects.

How it behaves

• How it moves: It walks and trots on three-toed feet and can turn and charge with surprising speed.
• When it is active: Active mainly in the cooler morning and evening, resting and wallowing during the midday heat.
• Family life: Mostly solitary, though white rhinos form small groups; a group is called a crash.
• How it talks: It communicates with snorts, grunts, and squeals and uses dung and urine to leave scent messages.
• Babies: After a pregnancy of about 15 to 16 months, a female gives birth to one calf every few years.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: As a big grazer it shapes grasslands; adults have almost no natural predators, though lions and hyenas take calves.
• Conservation: Status varies: the black, Javan, and Sumatran rhinos are Critically Endangered while the white is Near Threatened, all threatened by horn poaching.
• Dangers: Poaching for horn is the leading cause of death, along with habitat loss and human conflict.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Lives about 35 to 50 years depending on the species.
• In our culture: Prized and persecuted for its horn, the rhino is a flagship of wildlife conservation and appears in art from ancient rock carvings onward.
• Where to see it: See white and black rhinos in South Africa's Kruger, and greater one-horned rhinos in India's Kaziranga.
• Fun fact: Small birds called oxpeckers ride on a rhino's back, eating ticks and calling out an alarm when danger nears.