RHINOCEROS

Rhino STATUS:
Rhinos don't clash just with other animals or objects; sometimes they fight with each other. Males often battle over territory and females. Even courting males and females sometimes fight one another. Black rhinos use the bigger of the two horns on their noses as weapons in a fight.  Black rhinoceroses have a sort of attack-first-and-ask-questions-later attitude. When a rhino catches the scent of a human or anything else unfamiliar, it is likely to charge. Rhinos can't see well, so they sometimes charge objects like trees and rocks, mistaking them as threats. But rhinos have keen senses of smell and hearing.

Rhino Endangered

Rhino DESCRIPTION:

There are five species of rhinos � two African and three Asian. The African species are the white and black rhinos. Both species have two horns. Asian rhinos include the Indian and the Javan, each with one horn, and the Sumatran, which has two.

Rhino SIZE:

The white rhino is the second largest land mammal next to the elephant. The five species range in weight from 750 pounds to 8,000 pounds and stand anywhere from four and a half to six feet tall.

Rhino POPULATION:

Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis): 2,400       

White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum): 7,500

Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis): 400

Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus): fewer than 100

Indian Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis): more than 2,000

Rhino LIFESPAN:

Biologists estimate that wild rhinos live up to 35 years. In captivity, a rhino may live 40 years.

Rhino RANGE:

Rhinos are found in parts of Africa and Asia.

Rhino HABITAT:

Rhino habitat ranges from savannas to dense forests in tropical and subtropical regions.

Rhino FOOD:

Rhinos are herbivores, meaning they eat only plants. White rhinos, with their square-shaped lips, are ideally suited to graze on grass. Other rhinos prefer to eat the foliage of trees or bushes.

Rhino BEHAVIOR:

As solitary creatures, both male and female rhinos establish territories. Males mark and defend their territories. Rhinos use their horns not only in battles for territory or females but also to defend themselves from lions, tigers and hyenas.

Rhino OFFSPRING:

Males and females frequently fight during courtship, sometimes leading to serious wounds inflicted by their horns. After mating, the pair go their separate ways. A calf is born 14 to 18 months later. Although they nurse for a year, calves are able to begin eating vegetation one week after birth.

Rhino THREATS:

Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth. Valued for their horns, they face a serious threat from poaching. Some cultures believe that the powdered rhino horn will cure everything from fever to food poisoning and will enhance sexual stamina.

Rhino PROTECTION:

*Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with more than 144 member countries. Appendix I listed species cannot be traded commercially. Appendix II listed species can be traded commercially only if trade does not harm their survival.