Rhinoceros

I

Introduction

Rhinoceros, common name for five species of enormous mammals with one or two horns projecting from their snouts. Rhinos are among the biggest and heaviest land animals alive today, exceeded in size only by the elephant and the hippopotamus. They have thick, pillar-like legs, with three toes covered with broad, hooflike nails. Rhinos are legendary for their poor eyesight, but their senses of smell and hearing are acute. Although they look clumsy, rhinos can swivel around rapidly to face danger, and if threatened, can charge at speeds of up to 50 km/h (about 30 mph).

Rhinos live in warm climates, and are found only in Africa and Asia. The two African species are the white rhinoceros, a relatively placid animal that is the largest of all rhino species, reaching a weight of over 3 metric tons, and the black rhinoceros, which is about half as heavy as the white rhinoceros but much more aggressive. The Asian species include the Indian rhinoceros, which has skin that looks like a suit of armor, and two much rarer species, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. African rhinos have two horns, but depending on their species and sex, Asian rhinos have two horns, a single horn, or none at all. As a result of illegal trade in rhinoceros horn and habitat destruction, the populations of the black, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos have suffered sharp declines in recent years.

Rhinos first evolved over 40 million years ago from animals that looked similar to tapirs, and today’s species represent the surviving remnants of a once thriving group of animals. Prehistoric ancestors of the rhinoceros include Indricotherium and Paraceratherium, hornless giants that may have weighed up to 20 tons, making them among the largest mammals that ever lived. During the last ice age, woolly rhinos roamed the tundra of northern Europe and Siberia. These two-horned animals with long, shaggy coats died out 15,000 years ago, but their frozen remains are occasionally discovered today.

II

Range and Habitat of Rhinoceroses

Although they all eat plants, rhinos live in different habitats and feed in different ways.

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A

In Asia

In Asia the Sumatran and Javan rhinos inhabit dense tropical forests, where they feed on leaves, twigs, and fruit. The Indian rhino also browses on trees and shrubs, but instead of living in forests, it feeds in flat, open areas. In the rainy season, its main food is swampland grass, which can grow over 5 m (16 ft) high.

The Indian rhino once ranged across northern India, Pakistan, and Nepal, but by the beginning of the 20th century less than 100 animals survived. They now number less than 3,000 animals concentrated primarily in Indian and Nepali national parks. At one time, the Sumatran and Javan rhinos were also widespread throughout Asia, but their numbers have plunged drastically and show no signs of recovering. Sumatran rhinos, numbering about 300 animals, are found scattered in small, fragmented groups across Southeast Asia, primarily in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Javan rhino survives only in two national parks, in Indonesia and Vietnam.

B

In Africa

In Africa both black and white rhinoceroses live in open woodland and tree-studded plains, but their feeding habits are quite unalike. The black rhinoceros feeds on leaves and twigs, while the white rhinoceros is the world’s biggest grazing animal, living almost entirely on low-growing grass.

Black rhinos were once found in many parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, but unrestrained hunting in the last half of the 20th century caused the population to collapse by more than 90 percent. Anti-poaching efforts have helped the black rhino population to rebound somewhat. By the early 21st century about 2,700 animals were scattered across central, southern, and southeastern Africa. The white rhinoceros has fared better, with over 10,400 surviving mainly in southern Africa. Some white rhinos also live in East Africa, and a small number are found in Central Africa west of the White Nile in Sudan, but even so, the species occupies only a fraction of its former range.

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