Asian Rhinoceros

There are 5 kinds of rhinoceros.

Two kinds live in Africa and three kinds live in Asia.

Rhinos have horns on their noses.

Rhinoceros eat plants.

The closest living relative to rhinoceros is the horse.

The word 'rhinoceros' comes from two Greek words:
rhino meaning 'nose' and ceros meaning 'horned'.

There are five different species, or kinds, of rhinoceros.
Two kinds are in Africa and three are in Asia.

A rhinoceros has one or two horns on its nose, depending on what kind of rhino it is.

The hard, sharp horn is made of stiff matted hair, not of bone like the horns of other animals.

The Indian Rhinoceros is the largest of the three kinds of Asian rhinos, second in size to the African White Rhinoceros.

The Indian Rhinoceros is about 1.7 metres tall and about 3.5 m long. Although it can be taller than the African White Rhinoceros, it is not as heavy. An Indian Rhinoceros weighs up to about 2,500 kg. It has one horn, about 30 centimetres long.

It has bumpy skin that has big folds and bumps so that it looks like it is covered in armour plates.

The Indian Rhinoceros is found in grasslands on flood plains of rivers, and sometimes in nearby woodlands, in Bhutan, northern India and southern Nepal. It is solitary (lives alone).

Indian rhinos eat grass, fruit, leaves and even crops. They have a special upper lip that helps them grab plants, particularly tall grasses. This lip also helps them grab hold of water plants and pull them up by the roots. They feed in early morning or late afternoon and not in the hottest part of the day.

Life cycle
About 16 months after mating with a male, a female Indian Rhinoceros gives birth to one calf, usually between the end of February and the end of April. Usually females give birth every 2-4 years. The calves drink milk from their mother's body until they are about 2 years old, but they gradually eat more solid food during this time.

Conservation Status and Threats
Indian Rhinoceros are endangered partly because their habitat has been reduced by humans who changed it for farming purposes, but mainly because they have been hunted and killed for their horns alone. Some people believe that dried, ground rhinoceros horn has magical medicinal powers to cure fever. Although it is illegal to kill rhinoceros, poachers still kill them, and rhino horn still fetches a high price. Numbers were reduced also in the past because there used to be a government plan for killing rhinos to prevent them from eating tea plants on the tea plantations because tea is an important Indian crop.

About half way through last century there were just 200 left. Today, there are about 1,500 Indian rhinos, so protection plans are slowly showing some success.

Click here to find out more about Indian Rhinos
http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Greater_Indian_Rhinoceros.asp