Image gallery
The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros is a large mammal primarily found in north-eastern India and Nepal. Fully grown males are larger than females weighing 2200kg – 3000kg while females weigh approximately 1600kg. The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros is from 1.7 to 2m tall and can be up to 4m in length. They have a single horn which is made from keratin and starts to show at approximately six years of age. It can reach lengths between 20cm and 61cm. The Greater One-horned Rhino’s hearing and sense of smell are acute, but they have poor vision and cannot see a stationary animal 30 metres away. This rhino can run at speeds of up to 40km/h for short periods of time and is also an excellent swimmer. Greater One-horned Rhinoceros can live up to 40 years in human care.
This prehistoric looking rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin with large skin folds that look like armour plating. Males develop thick neck folds and their upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. They have very little body hair, aside from eye lashes, ear fringes and tail brush.
Distribution & Habitat
The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros inhabits dense stands of tall grasses either on plains or swampy areas near rivers. Greater One-horned Rhinoceros once ranged from Pakistan across northern India to Nepal, Bhutan and the border of Myanmar (Burma) and perhaps even further into southern China. Today most live in national parks in India and Nepal including the Chitwan National Park and Kaziranga National Park. The Greater One-horned Rhino are generally solitary animals, feeding under dense cover of tall trees or grasses, and spending hours wallowing in mud, an activity that protects their skin.
Breeding
Males can breed at nine years of age but because of competition from older males in the wild, many don’t mate until they are about 10 years old. Females reach sexual maturity at five years and have their first calves when between six and eight years. The female whistles when in season so that males know when she is ready to mate. The gestation period is approximately 16 months. A single calf is born at intervals of about three years. At birth a calf is usually about 60cm tall and weights 36 – 57kgs.
Diet
The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros is a grazer, with their diet almost entirely consisting of grasses but also leaves, branches, fruits and submerged and floating aquatic plants. While they are mainly grazers, the rhino uses its prehensile upper lip to grasp longer grasses and shrubs.
Behaviour
They are mostly solitary creatures, with the exception of mothers and calves and breeding pairs, although they sometimes congregate at water holes.
Dominant males tolerate males passing through their territory except when they are in mating season, when dangerous fights break out. They are active at night and early morning. They spend the middle of the day wallowing in lakes, rivers, ponds, and puddles to cool down. They are extremely good swimmers.
Greater One-horned Rhinoceros can be friendly. They will often greet each other by waving or bobbing their heads, mounting flanks, nuzzling noses, or licking. Rhinos will playfully spar, run around, and play with twigs in their mouth.
The Greater One-horned Rhino is listed as endangered. The major threats to the Greater One-horned Rhino are illegally poaching for its horn which is used in traditional Chinese medicines and habitat loss.
The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros is one of the greatest success stories in rhino conservation. With strict protection from Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities, Greater One-horned Rhinoceros numbers have recovered from fewer than 200 earlier in the 20th century to as many as 2,850 today. However, even with population increases, poaching pressure has remained high in both India and Nepal. The species’ recovery is precarious without increased and accelerated support for conservation efforts throughout its range.
Find me at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
Follow us