In the animal world: rhinoceroses gather at huge piles of dung to get the latest news (photo). 35 interesting and curious facts about rhinos Rhinos in the animal world

Only the choice of their meeting place is somewhat "fragrant" - giant piles of manure.

Scientists have determined that chemical "cues" in white rhinoceros feces provide other individuals with information about age, sex, general condition health and reproductive status of the animal that left the “farm”. And all this can be learned by visiting a public latrine in the form of a dunghill.

“We believe that manure serves as an animal way of communicating in a peculiar way. It hides information that we don't use, for example," said study lead author Courtney Marneweck of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Many animals can detect chemicals in the urine or excrement of fellow animals (the same binturong that smells like popcorn) to find out some information about other members of their species or, say, to understand that the territory is occupied. For the same reason, for example, dogs constantly sniff at pillars and other hills “marked” by other tetrapods.

But white rhinos have one amazing feature that distinguishes them from other animals - a group of rhinos defecate in one chosen place.

This behavior was found in these individuals for the first time.

Marnyuk and her colleagues studied more than 200 white rhinos in South Africa from different populations. During the study, they collected several samples of their feces after the animals visited the dunghills.

Researchers joke that finding dunghills is easy enough: huge mammals they trample the grass on their way to the latrine, and they don’t go too far when they hear the “call of nature.” What's more, the "results of a good meal" are large enough to be hard to miss. (By the way, Marnyuk adds that rhinoceros feces do not exude bad smell- animal feces are mostly dried grass).

But back to the research itself. After the scientists collected the samples, they analyzed their composition. Later, they created fake (yes, fake) feces from grass and dirt, which they sprayed with the same substances that were contained in the real manure of three various groups animals.

The experts then “tossed” fake excrement into randomly selected latrines, and then observed how alpha male rhinos reacted to such a “gift”.

It turned out that the dominant individuals were very susceptible to the fake, which carried the chemicals of the female ready to mate. Such males spent more time sniffing the "imposter" than "ordinary" rhinos, and also visited the latrine more often. In addition, alpha males defecated on top of these fake feces, the scientists report.

This reaction shows that male rhinoceroses collected information using chemical substances in manure, notes Marnyuk.

Zoologists also conclude that such an unusual means of communication allows group members to learn about the status or condition of each individual without directly observing him and without causing unsafe skirmishes or fights.

There is another interesting point: manure heaps are often located on the borders of territories occupied different populations one kind that defecate there. That is, such "signal beacons" help communication not only within one group of rhinos, but also between them, which means, among other things, they strengthen the borders.

According to Marnyuk, such a study helps to understand how white rhinos communicate, and this, in turn, will play into the hands of scientists who want to help them survive. (Unfortunately, this species is threatened with extinction).

An unusual study on the creation of "fake" rhinoceros feces is published in the scientific publication Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

We add that it was previously reported that caterpillars rustle their anuses to strike up friendships.

The Indian, or armored rhinoceros, is the largest animal in Asia after the elephant. The body length exceeds 4 m, height - 2 m, weight - 2 tons. These rhinos have only one horn.

photo: Miriam Poling

The skin of rhinos has no hairline and hangs down in thick folds, resembling a shell. Hence the name of this animal - brick rhinoceros.
Black and white rhinos are representatives of the African fauna. They are smaller than Indian ones. Interestingly, black rhinos tend to have two horns. But sometimes there are individuals with three and even five horns. The length of the front horn of African rhinos is 60 cm. There is a known case when experts discovered a rhinoceros whose horn was almost 140 cm long.
Despite seeming slowness, animals can run at a speed of 40 km / h. and even jump over large ditches. In addition, rhinos can swim well.

photo: Thomas Retterath

For most of their lives, these giants are lonely, having their own individual plot, where there must be a reservoir, a lake or a large puddle, and from plants - elephant grass and reeds. These plants are included in the diet of rhinos. But he also loves aquatic plants.
In addition to humans, the rhinoceros has no enemies. Even powerful elephants retreat before this giant. Predators never attack adults, and babies sometimes become their victims.

photo: Seth Patterson

Interestingly, during the fights of female rhinos, horns are used. And it is surprising that they do not stab them, but fight like sticks.
There are cases when during such duels one of the males loses his horn. But over time it will grow back.
Rhinos never run away when other animals or humans appear nearby. But sometimes they get very aggressive. Experts attribute this behavior to their myopia. After all, a rhinoceros cannot distinguish a tree or a bush at a distance of 20 m. However, they have a very wonderful sense of smell and hearing.

photo:Safari Partners

Rhinos never leave their territory, even if they suffer from thirst during the dry period, they never go to look for water, as other animals do.
In addition, rhinos are very picky eaters - even in dry seasons they only eat green leaves - a rarity in this period.
In a female rhinoceros, as a matter of fact, once every 3-4 years, one ditincha is born. Its weight is about 60 kg. It is born looking like a small pink piglet and already has folds and grows like an adult rhinoceros. But the baby has no horns. He will appear later.
Baby long time remains with the mother and is considered an adult only at the age of 5.
Rhinos live for 70 years.

photo: Marc Soller

It is interesting to know that when hunting rhinos, African natives use poisonous arrows, rubbing the tip with poison. plant origin. And rhinoceroses "learned" to find antidote plants.
As soon as such an arrow overtakes a rhinoceros, he immediately, obeying instinct, looks for rescue plants.

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There are 5 types of rhinos on Earth: two African - white and black, three Asian - Indian, Javanese and Sumatran, or two-horned Asian. The Asian rhinoceros, like the black rhinoceros of Africa, has an upper lip pointed with a small proboscis. But its most important distinguishing feature is the pointed and elongated incisors of the lower jaw. When attacking, the rhinoceros usually hits with these incisors, and uses the horn much less frequently.

They settle in East, Southeast, Southwest, Central and South Africa along the banks of rivers and lakes, as well as in forests and swamps. The rhinoceros is a large animal: it weighs 2 tons, or even more. Animals prefer solitude, each has its own strictly protected territory, its own trails and pastures, as well as favorite places for mud baths.

In order to protect itself from insect pests, the rhinoceros lies all day long in the mud near the shore. After sunset, he goes out to pasture to eat for the next day.

The Javan rhinoceros is considered the rarest mammal species on the planet. Now a few animals - representatives of the species - live in southeast africa(Java Island, Vietnam). Currently, there are no more than 70 individuals. The reason for the decline in the number of Javanese rhinos was their extermination by a man who hunted animals because of the horns, which are used to make souvenirs and various crafts.

Javan rhinoceros appearance reminiscent of Indian, but slightly smaller in size. There are also differences in the shape of the front skin folds, and in the fact that only the male has a horn on the nose. The Javan rhinoceros is called because it lives on the island of Java, or rather, on a small peninsula that ends the western part of the island. In the early 1930s, a reserve was founded in Java, in which, in addition to rhinos, tigers were also specially protected.

The third asian view- the Sumatran two-horned rhinoceros is the smallest of all. It is also named after the island on which it lives. Previously, this species of rhino was found in India and China, and now, in addition to Sumatra, also in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaya and Kalimantan.

The white rhino was not named so because it is white (its skin is the same dirty gray color as the black one). Some experts say that he got the name "white" because after mud baths his skin dries up and from a distance looks light gray, almost white. And the black rhinoceros lives in the forest, where the color of the soil is different, and therefore the dried mud on it is much darker. Others say that dirt has nothing to do with it: the word "white" got into the zoological literature about rhinos because of the consonance English words"white" ("white") and "wid" ("wide"). The Boers called the white rhino wijd, which means "wide": its upper lip is very wide, which is why the nostrils are much wider than those of the black rhinoceros. The Dutch word "wijd" became the English "wide" and then "white".

The white rhinoceros is the second largest (after the elephant) land animal: its height is 1.8 m, its weight is 3 tons or more, it even has a horn as long as a small person! But this is a very rare animal.

The survival of white rhinos is not favored by several biological and ecological reasons. In addition, they have a very low fertility. The female gives birth to only one cub, and the pregnancy lasts 18 months.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is best known for the fact that its behavior and lifestyle were first described in travel notes, the author of which was the Venetian traveler and discoverer Marco Polo. Rhinoceroses are considered record holders among mammals. AT natural community they occupy the fourth place in the world in size, yielding the palm to such giants of the animal world as whales, elephants and giraffes.

Modern scientists say that once upon a time rhinos inhabited not only African continent, but were also common in Europe and Asia. Now these animals (including the Sumatran rhinoceros) are considered an endangered species and are listed in the Red Book. International Union nature conservation.

Currently, the habitat of the Sumatran rhinoceros is the northeastern regions of India, the Malay Peninsula, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. This species differs from others primarily in appearance. The Sumatran rhinoceros can rightly be called the most “insulated” among rhinos: the entire body of this animal is covered with stiff bristles. And small rhinos from a distance seem to be dressed in warm coats of thick fur.

Rhinos are herbivores that eat grass, branches of trees and shrubs, as well as reeds and other lake and marsh plants that they can find. They are very unpretentious in food and eat thorns, dry branches and roots. Since rhinos have very powerful jaws, they easily gnaw and chew branches up to 4 cm in diameter.

These bumpkins have good hearing and smell, but have poor eyesight. In this regard, they have a kind of friendship with the sharp-sighted red-billed bufagus birds that love to sit on their broad backs. Upon noticing an enemy, the bufagus begin to scream, and the rhinos take precautions. Between themselves, they communicate with the help of sounds resembling grunts, snores or snorts. By the way, the latter indicates that the rhinoceros is very annoyed.

Male sharp-nosed rhinos tend to live alone. They look for a female only during the mating season. The female lives with the cub for about 3 years. The baby follows the mother everywhere, who protects and protects him.

Broad-nosed rhinos live in small herds and wander through the savannah, overgrown with shrubs and grass. Females bear cubs for 490 days. As a rule, only one baby is born. There are approximately 4,000 broad-nosed rhinos left in the wild.

African rhinos of the Borello and Keitloa breeds are considered the most ferocious. Literally anything can annoy them. In a rage, they crush and break everything in their path and kill anyone creature that got in their way.

But, despite their ferocity, they are considered the most caring parents. The rhinoceros, without hesitation, can rush to protect the cub, even if there is a tiger in front of her.

Like other big and strong beasts, which had very few enemies in nature, rhinos were completely unadapted to effective defense against a man with a gun. They are not particularly worried, because of which the shooter can approach them at a distance of 30 steps.

Sleep in rhinos is very strong, insensitive. Bernhard Grzimek, in his book Among the Animals of Africa, tells how the Masai boys in the Serengeti reserve, taking into account this feature of rhinos, play the following game: “One boy quietly sneaks up to a sleeping rhinoceros and puts a stone on his back. The second should come up and pick up this stone. The third and fourth start all over again, and so on until the rhinoceros wakes up. This game is very dangerous, but the Maasai are far from being cowards.

Dr. Grzimek said that young lions love to tease rhinos while playing. They will surround the animal with a ring, then one or the other will run up from behind and, having rather weighty slapped the rhinoceros in the rear, will bounce off. The bumpkin, of course, is indignant and annoyed by such familiarity, turns around abruptly and menacingly, but ... there is no one behind, the lions have already lurked.

But in general, lions and rhinos have a rather peaceful and mutually respectful relationship, that is, they deliberately do not harm each other. With elephants, rhinos also observe neutrality. If they meet on a narrow path, then after a frivolous warning from both sides, expressed in a demonstration of threatening poses, they peacefully disperse. Usually the rhinoceros gives way to the elephant, but it happens that the elephant is the first to step aside.

Rhinoceros - is one of the iconic animals of Africa, a kind of hallmark of the "black continent", it is not without reason that it is included in the "big five African" along with the buffalo, lion and leopard, the very five animals that in the old days were the most honorary hunting trophies safari. And the rhinoceros has rather poor eyesight, but as they say, with its size and power, these are no longer its problems.

Rhinoceros: description, structure, characteristics. What does a rhinoceros look like?

The Latin name of the rhinoceros - Rhinocerotidae, is essentially identical to ours, since "Rhino" means "nose", and "ceros" horn, it turns out "rhinoceros", this name very aptly characterizes this beast, because the large horn on the nose, growing from the nasal bone is an essential attribute of all decent rhinos (however, not decent ones either).

And also the rhinoceros, the largest land mammal after the elephant - the length of the rhinoceros is from 2 to 5 meters, with a height of 1-3 meters and a weight of 1 to 3.6 tons.

The colors of rhinoceroses depend on their species, in fact, at first glance, it seems that the names of rhinoceros species have actually come from their colors: white rhino, black rhinoceros. But not everything is so obvious and unambiguous here, the fact is that real color the skin of both white and black rhinos is the same - gray-brown, but due to the fact that these rhinos love to wallow in the ground of different colors, which colors them in different colors, and their names went.

The head of a rhinoceros is long and narrow, with a steeply lowered forehead. Between the nasal bones and the forehead has a concavity, somewhat similar to a saddle. The small eyes of a rhinoceros with brown or black pupils look very contrasting against the background of their size. big head. As we mentioned at the beginning, things are not important with the eyesight of rhinos, they are only able to see moving objects from a distance of no more than 30 meters. In addition, the fact that their eyes are located on the sides does not give them the opportunity to properly examine this or that object, they see it first with one eye, then with the other.

But the sense of smell in rhinos, on the contrary, is perfectly developed, and it is on it that they rely the most. Interestingly, the volume of the nasal cavity in rhinos is larger than the volume of their brain. Hearing is also well developed in these giants, the ears of rhinos are like tubes that constantly rotate, catching even faint sounds.

The lips of rhinos are straight and clumsy, with the exception of the Indian and black rhinos, which have a movable lower lip. Also, all rhinos have 7 molars in the dental system, which are greatly erased with age, in addition to teeth, Asian rhinos have incisors that are absent in African rhinos.

All rhinos have thick skin, which is almost completely devoid of wool. The exception here is the modern Sumatran rhinoceros, whose skin is still covered with brown wool and the woolly rhinoceros that once lived in our latitudes, which, together with the same woolly mammoth Unfortunately, it has not survived to our times.

The legs of the rhinoceros are heavy and massive, each foot has three hooves, as a result of which it is very easy to recognize by the rhino tracks where these giants walked.

rhinoceros horn

Rhino horn - his business card and it should be mentioned separately. So, depending on the species, a rhinoceros on the nose can grow either one or two horns, with the second horn located closer to the head of a smaller size. Rhinoceros horns are made up of the protein kerotene, by the way, human hair and nails, porcupine quills, bird feathers, and armadillo shells are made of the same protein. Horns develop from the epidermis of the skin of rhinos.

In young rhinos, when wounded, the horns are restored, in old ones, no longer. In general, all the functions of the rhinoceros horn have not yet been fully studied by zoologists, but for example, scientists have noticed such a curious fact - if a horn is removed from a female rhinoceros, then she will cease to be interested in her offspring.

The owner of the longest horn is the white rhinoceros, in which it reaches 158 cm in length.

Where does the rhinoceros live

In our time, from the once numerous family of rhinos, only 5 species have survived, 3 of them live in South-East Asia, this is the Indian rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros and 2 species live in Africa, these are black and white rhinoceros. Below we describe each type in more detail.

How long does a rhinoceros live

The life expectancy of rhinos is very long, so African rhinos live on average 30-40 years in the wild, and live up to 50 years in zoos. But the longest-living rhinos are the Indian and Javan rhinos, which can live up to 70 years, almost as long as a human lifespan.

Rhino lifestyle

All rhinos live alone, without creating herds. The exceptions are white rhinoceroses, which form small herds consisting of a female and cubs. Male and female rhinos come together only for the duration of mating. Despite such a peculiar hermit lifestyle, rhinoceroses also have friends among other representatives of the animal world, so dragging, small birds, constantly accompany rhinoceroses, pecking insects from their skin and, at the same time, bringing them closer with their cry about possible danger. Not without reason in Swahili the name of these birds "wa kifaru" sounds like a protector of rhinos.

Each rhinoceros has its own territory - a pasture and a reservoir, which is its personal "land", it jealously guards its territory. Rhinos mark the borders of their "possessions" with heaps of manure, which also serve as a kind of "aromatic" landmark, allowing them to navigate in space and stay within their "lands".

Rhinos are especially active, early in the morning and at dusk, at this time they actively feed to get enough, which, given their big sizes not always simple task. But day and night, rhinos, as a rule, sleep on their stomachs or rolled over on their sides, or take their favorite “mud baths”. Rhinos sleep very soundly and they say that at this time you can easily sneak up on them and even grab them by the tail (but still we highly recommend that you do not do this))).

Rhinos are cautious animals, therefore, including from us humans, they try to stay away, but when they feel danger, they always attack first, and they attack very violently. That is why, when meeting with a rhinoceros, you need to behave extremely carefully and delicately, an angry rhinoceros can run at a speed of 40-45 km per hour, and nothing can stop such a running carcass, for example, it can quite easily ram and even turn over a light one.

What does a rhinoceros eat

Rhinos are herbivores, however, they are very voracious, so on average a rhinoceros eats up to 72 kg of plant food per day. The main food of rhinos is grass and leaves fallen from trees. Black and Indian rhinos are not averse to feasting on the shoots of trees and shrubs. Sugarcane is a favorite delicacy of the Indian rhinoceros, while the Sumatran rhinoceros is very fond of various fruits, especially figs and mangoes.

Rhino Enemies

The main enemy of rhinos is, of course, a man who in the old days mercilessly exterminated these animals, including for the sake of their famous horns, which, according to legend, have various healing properties. Until they were exterminated to the point that now all 5 species of rhinos are listed in, because due to their low numbers they are on the verge of extinction.

In natural conditions, other animals, given the size and cautiously suspicious disposition of rhinos, try to bypass them. But different predators may well hunt for rhino cubs: lions, crocodiles. But with an adult large rhino with thick skin and a sharp large horn, they can’t cope with it.

Well, it's time to describe in more detail the 5 species of these horned giants that exist in nature.

white rhino

It is the largest rhinoceros in the world, and oddly enough, the least aggressive of the rhinos. Its body length is 5 m, height 2-3 m and weight 2-3 tons, although there are also heavy white rhinos, weighing 4-5 tons. This rhinoceros also has two horns, the main horn is the largest in the rhinoceros family, and in addition to it, there is one more horn closer to the head. little horn. The white rhino lives in East and South Africa, on the territory of such countries as South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Botswana.

This species of rhinoceros is extremely dangerous due to its aggressive nature. When a person approaches, even if it is an innocent tourist with a camera, he can react quite nervously, so you should keep your distance from him. Just like the white rhinoceros, it has two horns, one large and the other small, but somewhat smaller. The body length of the black rhinoceros is up to 3 m. Also characteristic difference black rhinoceros is the presence of a movable black lip. The black rhinoceros lives in a number of countries in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa: in South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.

As you probably guessed, the homeland of the Indian rhino is India, but in addition to it, Indian rhinos also live in Nepal. The body length of the Indian rhinoceros is on average 2 m and with a body weight of 2.5 tons. The horn of the Indian rhinoceros is only one, and unlike African rhinos, it is not sharp, but more blunt, convex.

The only one modern species rhinoceros, whose skin is covered with a little wool, which is why it is sometimes also called the "hairy rhinoceros". It is also the oldest among all rhinos. The body length of the Sumatran rhinoceros is 2.3 m and weighs 2.25 tons. Among the rhinos, the Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest, but despite this, it remains one of the largest representatives of the animal world of our planet. The Sumatran rhinoceros lives on the island of Sumatra (in Indonesia), also in Malaysia.

This rhinoceros is in a particularly deplorable state, according to zoologists on this moment only about 50 individuals of the Javan rhinoceros have survived. It lives only on the island of Java in a reserve specially created for it, in which every effort is made for its subsequent conservation. The Javan rhinoceros is similar in size and build to the Indian rhinoceros, but its characteristic distinctive feature is the complete absence of horns in females. Only male Javan rhinos have horns. The folds of his thick skin are somewhat reminiscent of knightly armor.

Rhino breeding

Rhinos reach sexual maturity in the 7th year of life. But the male rhinoceros can start the process of copulation with the female and the process of reproduction only after he acquires his territory. Usually it takes another 2-3 years of life to do this. mating season in rhinoceroses it usually happens every one and a half months, during this period the male begins an intensive search for the female, which is interesting during the pursuit of the female rhinoceros by the male, they can even fight. But then the female still yields to the pressure of the male, and mating occurs.

The pregnancy of a female rhinoceros lasts a year and a half, and she has only one baby. A newborn rhinoceros weighs 25 kg, but already very quickly begins to gain weight. Interestingly, white rhino babies are born hairy. After a few days, little rhinos are able to follow their mother, and after three months there are plants. However, during this period, the basis of their nutrition is mother's milk. Throughout the year, the female rhinoceros feeds her children. breast milk. It should also be noted that small rhinos are deprived of horns, which begin to grow in them in the 2nd-3rd year of life.

• The inhabitants of Europe first saw the rhinoceros only in 1513, it was handed over to the Portuguese navigators by the Indian Raja Cambay. At first, the outlandish beast was put up for the amusement of the crowd, then the Portuguese decided to send it as a gift to the Pope, but on the way on the ship the rhinoceros went berserk, pierced the side of the ship and drowned.
• World Defense Fund wildlife WWF has established a special "Day of the Rhino" which is celebrated on September 22.
• The large woolly rhinoceros elasmotherium once lived in forests, on the territory, including our country of Ukraine, as well as in many other places in Eurasia. Unfortunately, it died out 8 thousand years ago.
• The word "rhinoceros" itself is found in the name of many other animals, for example, there is a rhinoceros beetle, -rhinoceros, hornbill, hornbill iguana, hornbill fish. All of them have horns, which makes them look like our today's hero - a rhinoceros.

Rhino, video

And finally, an interesting video about the crazy attacks of a rhinoceros, filmed on camera.

Rhinos are the largest animals living on the land of our planet after elephants. The largest rhinoceros in the world is the white rhinoceros. The dimensions of this giant are impressive: length up to 4.2 m, height up to 2 m, weight 4.5 tons.

Rhinos are herbivores but can be quite aggressive. Among the animals they do not have natural enemies. One look at this powerful beast discourages any desire to attack it. There are 5 types of rhinos in the world, and all of them are very impressive in size.

White rhinos live in Africa. This is the most large view these animals. The weight of adult males is from 4 to 4.5 tons, body length - up to 4.2 m, height - up to 2 m. Rhinos have a dense physique, powerful three-toed legs with hooves and 2 trapezoid-shaped horns pointing upwards. The front long horn (up to 60 cm) helps them push the bushes, and the wide keratinized lower lip makes it possible to bite the grass at the very root. Despite the fact that this animal is called the white rhinoceros, its skin is gray, strong and rough. He does not see well, but he hears perfectly and subtly perceives smells.

Male rhinos often fight among themselves and even kill each other when competing for females. Females go pregnant for 15 months and give birth to one baby at 2-3 years. White rhinos do not attack people, they usually walk away when they see a person. Despite their heaviness, these animals can run fast, reaching speeds up to 35 km/h. In nature, wild rhinos live up to 30-50 years.

Most of these animals live in South Africa, they are found in Namibia and Botswana. With the advent firearms The white rhino population was nearly wiped out. They were mined for the use of horns in medicinal purposes and like hunting trophies. Now the states of Africa have taken hunting under their control, and rhinos have been able to multiply intensively. The white rhino rivals the hippopotamus in size. Even in the photo you can see what an impressive and formidable animal it is.

The second largest species is the black rhinoceros. The color of his skin is darker than that of a white rhinoceros, the skin is dark gray. This is a large animal up to 3 m long, weighing up to 2 tons and up to 1.5 m high. The black rhinoceros often has 2, and sometimes 3-5 rounded horns (as in Zambia) up to 60 cm long, which are directed forward. With a trunk-shaped lip, this animal tears off the leaves that it feeds on. The body of this animal is more elongated and not as heavy as that of the white rhinoceros.

This species of rhinoceros lives in Eastern and Central Africa. He likes to settle in the bush closer to the water. It feeds in the evening, and in the heat it slumbers under the trees. These animals do not migrate and live in the same area all their lives. They are single, live in a family consisting of a mother and cub.

Black rhinos rarely fight among themselves; their attacker is a female. A black rhinoceros can suddenly attack a person, and it runs at speeds up to 48 km / h. Therefore, safari participants must be very careful. Black rhinoceroses have suffered greatly from poachers who hunted for their horns, which were erroneously attributed medicinal properties. But now their population has been restored.

This animal is large and powerful. The largest males are found weighing up to 2 tons, the size at the withers is up to 2 m, the body length is up to 2.8 m. The Indian rhinoceros has a pinkish-gray, sometimes knobby skin that hangs down in the form of a shell. This gives it the appearance of a prehistoric animal. There are tufts of hair on the tail and ears.

Powerful legs with three fingers have horn endings. Upper lip the animal is straight, slightly bent down. On the lower jaw, this rhinoceros has large incisors with which it defends itself from predators. He has one horn, up to 25 cm in size. Females often have a small bump on their nose instead of a horn. The rhinoceros sees poorly, but hears and smells very well. So it's hard to get close to him.

He likes to wallow in mud, lakes and swamps and finds food there. In the water on the back of a rhinoceros, birds can be seen cleaning its skin from insects and ticks. On the shore at Indian rhinos skirmishes with buffaloes often occur. Rhinos have their own territory and tend to protect it from competitors. Previously, these giants were found throughout Asia. Now they live only in the reserves of Pakistan, India and Nepal.

This is very rare view, in total there are up to 100 individuals, they do not breed in captivity. Length up to 3 m, height up to 1.8 meters, exact weight unknown. The horn of this beast is one (length up to 20 cm). The Javan rhinoceros today lives only in tropical forests Me you. Formerly distributed in East Asia, India and southern China.

It is a herbivore and is very rare to see. Javan rhinos were exterminated by poachers, their habitual habitats were inhabited by people. During the Vietnam War, the habitat of these animals was destroyed.

5. Sumatran rhino. It is the smallest of the rhinos. Body length 250–300 cm, height up to 120 cm, weight from 800 to 2000 kg. This animal has 2 horns, one up to 25 cm, the second is almost completely invisible. The body is covered with reddish-brown hair. This species, like the Javanese, is threatened with extinction. Today, these rhinos live in Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.

Such rhinos feed on tree shoots, leaves and fruits. For digestion, they need salt, so animals look for salt marshes. They swim well and run fast. Less than 300 representatives of this species remain in nature.

Rhinos are amazing giants that have lived on Earth for millions of years. The largest rhinoceros in the world is the white rhinoceros. This is an animal that weighs up to 4.5 tons and looks like an armed fortress. His relatives also have an impressive size, besides, they can develop significant speed when moving. But these formidable animals are almost exterminated by man. All 5 species of rhinos will soon disappear from the face of the Earth if people do not take care of their protection.