Rhinoceros Facts and Information

The rhinoceros or the rhino is an interesting animal famous of its thick skin, horns, weight, speed and also their laziness. Rhinos are herbivores living in grasslands and forests. Rhinos are one of the endangered species on earth. Today there are only five species of Rhinos left on the planet – two African and three Asian. Here are some interesting rhino facts for you:

13 Interesting Facts about Rhinoceros

1. The word Rhinoceros comes from the Greek word ‘rhino’ meaning nose and ‘ceros’ meaning horn. Most rhinos have two horns while some species only have one. Rhino horns have healing properties and thus they are used in medicines. Sadly, because of this many rhinos have been poached.
2. If a Rhino accidentally breaks its horn, it can grow a new one!
3. There are five different species of Rhinos. The Black Rhino and white Rhino are African natives. Then we have the Indian Rhino, the Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino belonging to Asia.
4. The white Rhino is the least endangered species of all. Both- the white and black rhino are actually steel gray in colour. They are different in their lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip while the white rhino has a squared lip.
5. When left alone a Rhino can live for up to 40 years in the wild.
6. All Rhino species can weigh up to 1000 kg. The white rhino can weigh up to 3500 kg! Thus, rhinos are considered as the second largest mammals in the world after the elephant.
7. Rhinos have very thick, protective skin. An adult rhino’s skin can be 5cm or 2 inches thick. But their skin is very sensitive and prone to sunburn and insect bites. Thus rhinos love to be in the water and mud and when the mud dries it acts as protection to their skin.
8. Rhinos can run real fast. The white rhino can run at a speed of 50 kmph while the Indian rhino can run 55 kmph. The fastest is the black rhino that can run at a speed of 58 kmph.
9. Rhinos can grow over 6 feet tall and more than 11 feet in length.
10. Rhinos have a large body but they have really small brains.
11. Rhinos use their horns not only to battle for their territory but also to protect themselves from lions, tigers and hyenas.
12. Male and female rhinos fight during their courtship period. Sometimes they even get wounds from hitting each other with their horns. The females keep their babies in the womb for 14 to 18 months. When a rhino calf is born, it can eat vegetation just after one week of birth.
13. Rhino species go back 50 million years ago when there were woolly rhinos like the woolly mammoths!