Indian Rhinoceros - (Rhinoceros
unicornis)
The
Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned
Rhinoceros is a large mammal found in
Nepal and in Assam, India. It is confined
to the tall grasslands and forests in the
foothills of the Himalayas. The Indian Rhinoceros
can run as fast as 55 km/h for short periods
of time and is also an excellent swimmer.
It has an excellent sense of hearing and smell
but relatively poor eyesight.
This prehistoric-looking rhinoceros has thick,
silver-brown skin which creates huge folds
all over its body. Its upper legs and shoulders
are covered in wart-like bumps, and it has
very little body hair. With size equal to
that of the white rhino in Africa, it is the
fourth-largest land animal, after the three
elephant species. Fully grown males are larger
than females in the wild, weighing from 2200
- 3000 kg (4,800 - 6,600 lb). The average
height of the species is 1.70 m (5.7 feet)
and the average length is 3.50 m (11.7 feet).
The record-sized specimen of this rhino was
approximately 3500 kg. The Great One-Horned
Rhinoceros has a single horn; this is present
in both males and females, but not on newborn
young. The horn, like human fingernails, is
pure keratin and starts to show after about
one year. It reaches a length of between 20
and 61 cm.
The
rhino once inhabited areas from Pakistan
to Burma and may have even roamed Myanmar
and China. But because of human influence
their range has shrunk and now they only
exist in small populations in northeastern
India and Nepal.
The Indian Rhinoceros are grazer. Their diet
includes grasses, leaves, aquatic plants and
fruits. Feeding occurs during the morning
and evening where they use their prehensile
lip to grasp grass stems. Indian rhinos use
lower incesor teeth as a slashing weapon.
It should be noted that Indian rhinos does
not use their horn as an weapon. Indian rhinos
have few natural enemies, except for tigers.
Tigers sometimes kill unguarded calves, but
adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their
huge size and dangerous weapons. However,
there is a recorded instance of a tiger killing
a full-grown female Indian rhino.
