By Nic Barger
Description
The Rhinoceros is a large mammal in which is part of the Rhinocerotidea family. A once very numberous number of rhinoceros has decreased into a few and only five species that are still living today. These types include: The Asian One-Horned Rhino, The White Rhino, The Black Rhino, The Javan Rhino, and the Sumatran Rhino. A few characteristics of Rhinos are that they have very small eyes, one or two horns on the snout(depending on the type of Rhino) and three toes on each foot. Although there are many differences in the different types of Rhinos, there are some similarities. They all have a few characteristics in common which include large heads, broad chests, thick legs, poor eyesight,excellent hearing, and a fondness for rolling in the mud. All Rhinos are herbavores, eating either grass or leaves, depending on the species.Different types of Rhinos
Asian One-Horned
These Rhinos like to feed on leaves, grass, fruit, branches, and shrubs. They like grasslands and forests and live in India and Nepal. They are between 7-14 feet long, and 3.5-6.5 feet up to their shoulders. They can weigh anywhere from 3300-4400 pounds. Asian One-Horned are also known as the Rhinoceros Unicornis. They are also known for there ability to swim. There are only 2548 Asian One-Horned Rhino's left.
White Rhino
White Rhino's have two horns and are one of the biggest species in the Rhinocerotidea family. These Rhinos like to feed on long or short grass. They like to graze in flat terrain, savanna's and woodlands with open grasslands. They live in Central Africa. They are 12-14 feet long and 5-6 at their shoulder height. They weigh anywhere from 5070-7936 pounds. They aren't known for their swimming and are sometimes seen backing into water. There are two types of these kinds of Rhino's. The Northern White and the Southern White. There are less than 35 Northern White Rhino's left, and about 9125 Southern Rhino's left.
Black Rhino
The Black Rhino has two horns, and is from the Eastern and Southern part of Africa. They like to eat bushes, leaves, seedlings, and fruit. They like to graze in bushy plains, and rugged hills. They are 10-12.5 feet long 4.5-6 feet tall at the shoulders, and weigh between 2195-3000 pounds. There are only 2707 of these types of Rhino's left.
Javan Rhino
The Javan is the least numerous Rhino that is still alive. They like to eat leaves, twigs, and fallen fruit. They like to graze in dense lownland, and tropical rainforests. they live on a Peninula of Western Java and in veitnam. There are less than 80 of these mammals still alive. They are 11.5 feet long, and 5-6 feet tall to the shoulders. These Rhinos were thought to be extinct until 1988.
Sumatran Rhino
Sumatran Rhinos are one of the smallest Rhinos in the family. They are only 8-9 feet long, and 3-5 feet tall at the shoulders. They only weigh between 1300-1700 pounds. They like to eat fruit, leaves, twigs, and bark. They prefer to live in tropical rainforests. They live in Southeast Asia. There are less than 400 of these Rhinos left today, and they are considered in the most danger of extinction because of there scattered.
Facts
~Some of the largest land mammals that ever lived are Rhinos that are currently extinct. One of these in particular is the Baluchitherim. This mammal lived in Asia about 37 million to 25 million years ago. They had a height of about 18 feet, and a length of about 23 feet.~The Black and White Rhinos are misnamed in the fact that all Rhinos are basically the same color, and their color also depends on the soil in which they graze.
~The Rhino is the second biggest land mammal next to the elephant, but is greatly outweighed by the hippo.
~One of the reasons Rhinos are endangered are because of poachers. People Poach Rhinos for their horns. There horns are made of compacted hair and keratin which can be used to make medicines. ~Rhinoceroses get their name from one of their most famous features, their horns. Rhino comes from the greek meaning nose, and ceros horn.
~In some countries people dehorn Rhinos (dehorning is the process in which you remove the horn from the Rhino) to keep the Rhino alive and well. This keeps off potential poachers of killing the rhinos for the money they could get for the horns.
~Although large in size, a Black Rhino can run along at 40 miles per hour!
~Rhinos skin is fairly sensitive, especially to sunburn and insects that bite, this is why they love to roll around in the mud so much.
~White Rhinos heads can weigh up to 2000 pounds.
~Black, Javan, and Sumatran Rhinos are at Critical Risk, while White and Asian are Endangered ~Some Rhinos have square lips and other have pointed lips. The White Rhino is Africa is the one with the wide upper lip. This Rhino spends much of it's time grazing and it needs this wide lip to help cut off sharp grass. The Black Rhino is a browser and has a prehensile uppoer lip to help cut off and find the browse on trees and shrubs. It has a much smaller head because it doesn't need all the muscle for lowering the head while grazing.
~Rhinos fight a lot, with other animals and each other, sometimes over territory, sometimes for protection
~Eventhough Rhinos are very fierce creatures, black rhinos do have a “softer” side. The females are very attentive mothers. They look after their young for years, protecting them from enemies and teaching them how to survive independently.
~Humans are the biggest threat to Rhinos because there aren't many animals that can compare in size to the rhino.
~Since Rhinos don't have good sight, anytime they hear or see something they charge it thinking it is a threat. Many times they end up charging trees or bushes mistaking them for threats.
Help Save the Rhinos!!!
References
http://www.sosrhino.orghttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0205/rhinos2.html http://www.whozoo.org/students/cjames/rhinoinf.htm" http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-rhinoceros.html