Indian Rhinoceroses

Indian Rhinoceroses (One-horned rhino)

Scientific name: Rhinoceros unicornis


Description:


The Indian rhinoceros is also known as the great one-horned rhinoceros
Once found across the entire northern part of the Indian sub-continent, rhino populations were severely depleted as they were hunted for sport and killed as agricultural pests.

The Indian rhinoceros gets it's common name from the fact that it only has one horn rather than two.

Habitat:

The Indian rhinoceros once found throughout the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced their range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.

found in the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Burmese border, including Bangladesh and the southern parts of Nepal and Bhutan. They may have also occurred in Myanmar, southern China and Indochina.

Physical Characteristics:

The one-horned rhino is identified by a single black horn about 8-25 inches long and a grey-brown hide with skin folds, which give it an armor-plated appearance. 

Their segmented hide looks like a formidable coat of natural body armor. It functions a bit like one also: Flexible skin between the thicker hide "plates" .

Predator:

Rhino's only real predator in the wild are large wild cats ,such as tigers that will prey on the Indian rhino calves and weak individuals. Humans are the biggest threat to the Indian rhinoceros .