Rhinoceroses
A rhinoceros at Münster All-Weather Zoo
Image: Hamsterkiste
1 Rhinos and Their Name
This white rhinoceros has a nose horn and, behind it, a slightly shorter horn on its forehead
Image: Hamsterkiste
Rhinoceroses are also called rhinos. The word comes from ancient Greek and is made up of the two words for nose and horn.
Incidentally, horns are not bones. Like our fingernails and toenails, or the claws of other animals, they are made of keratin. Rhinoceroses mainly use them to defend themselves against other members of their species, but also as tools when searching for food. Their horns gradually wear down over time. If they break off, they grow back. The longest horn ever measured was over 1.50 meters long.
Some rhino species have one horn, while others have two. The first horn grows on the nasal bone, which is why it is also called the nasal horn. Some species have another horn on the frontal bone, called the frontal horn.
Find out:
- What are rhinoceroses sometimes called?
- What are these animals’ horns made of?
- How many horns do rhinoceroses have?
2 The Woolly Rhinoceros
Replica of a woolly rhinoceros at the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden
Image: By Dr. Bernd Gross - Own photo, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12798291
The first ancestors of rhinoceroses appeared around 60 million years ago. Since then, many different rhino species have evolved and spread across the Earth. They once lived in America and Europe, too. For example, the woolly rhinoceros lived in Central Europe until about 14,000 years ago.
At that time, all life was shaped by the Ice Age. It was much colder than it is today. Woolly rhinoceroses were protected from the cold by their thick woolly coats. Remains of these animals are still often found underground beneath riverbeds or in gravel pits.
People in the Stone Age left us pictures of these animals, which they painted on cave walls. When the last Ice Age ended, rhinoceroses died out in Europe and North America. Only in Africa and Asia did some of the many rhino species that once lived on Earth survive.
Find out:
4. Which rhinoceroses once lived in Europe, too?
5. How do we know about these animals?
3 The Indian Rhinoceros
Indian rhinoceros at Berlin Zoological Garden
Image: Hamsterkiste
The greater one-horned rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros and Javan rhinoceros still live in Asia. Greater one-horned rhinos are native to India. They prefer areas with tall grass, but are also found in forests. They get their name from their thick, wrinkled skin. The folds help protect them from overheating.
The Indian rhinoceros has one horn. It is the heaviest and largest rhino in Asia. It can grow up to 3.8 meters long and 1.7 meters tall. The males weigh more than 2,000 kilograms, and especially large ones can weigh up to 2,800 kilograms.
The animals eat 150 kilograms of food a day, mainly grass, twigs, leaves and branches. They mostly forage at dusk and at night.
Find out:
6. Which species of rhinoceros live in Asia today?
7. How long, how tall and how heavy can Parnashörner get?
8. What do greater one-horned rhinos eat?
4 The Javan rhinoceros
Javan rhinoceroses (diorama at the American Museum of Natural History, New York)
Image: Hamsterkiste
The Javan rhinoceros is closely related to the greater one-horned rhinoceros, but is somewhat smaller. Its skin is gray-brown and appears black when wet. Its small horn is distinctive and often grows to only about 20 cm long. This species of rhinoceros was once widespread across much of South Asia, but today it is found only in a small part of the island of Java.
The Javan rhinoceros is one of the world's rarest mammals. There are no Javan rhinos in captivity, and only a few remain in the wild. Unlike other rhino species, the Javan rhinoceros lives in dense tropical rainforests and feeds mainly on leaves, twigs and shoots. The animals love to wallow in small pools or mud holes to rid themselves of troublesome insects.
Find out:
9. Where can Javan rhinos still be found today?
5 The Sumatran rhinoceros
Sumatran rhinoceros at the Cincinatti Zoo (USA)
Image: Ltshears CC BY-SA 3.0
It is estimated that only about 80 Sumatran rhinos remained in the wild in 2023. Today they are found on the island of Sumatra, on other islands and on the mainland. In the past, they ranged across much of Southeast Asia, as far as the Himalayas.
It is the oldest, but also the smallest, of the Asian rhino species. The Sumatran rhinoceros grows up to 1.4 meters tall and weighs no more than 800 kg. It is partly covered in hair, and young animals in particular have a reddish-brown coat. Unlike other Asian rhinos, it has two horns. The front one is usually 15 to 20 cm long. The rear horn is not very large and is often just a small bump.
The Sumatran rhinoceros prefers to live in dense forests. It feeds on grasses, leaves, fruit and shoots. It uses its horns to get food, breaking up and snapping off branches and twigs. The Sumatran rhinoceros also loves pools and mud wallows, where it can roll around. It often enlarges and deepens them with its horns so there is enough room for a good mud bath.
Find out:
10. Where can Sumatran rhinoceroses still be found today?
11. What kind of habitat do Sumatran rhinos prefer?
6 The White Rhinoceros
White rhinoceros at Allwetterzoo Münster
Image: Hamsterkiste
Today, Africa is still home to the black rhinoceros and the white rhinoceros. Their names come from the characteristic shape of their mouths. The white rhino’s mouth is considerably wider than that of its relative. These animals prefer to graze on grass. They hold their heads very low, which makes grazing easier.
Male bulls weigh between 1,800 and 2,500 kilograms, and particularly large, strong animals can weigh over 3,000 kilograms. The white rhinoceros has two subspecies: the southern and the northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies is on the brink of extinction. Only
only a few animals remain in the wild in Kenya. The southern white rhino was also highly endangered for a long time. But there are now more than 15,000 of them, mostly in protected areas in South Africa.
Find out:
12. Which rhino species are found in Africa?
13. How do they differ?
7 The black rhinoceros
Black rhinos in Lewa, Kenya
Image: Harald Zimmer - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1914599
The black rhinoceros is somewhat smaller than the white rhinoceros. It can grow up to 1.8 metres tall, and bulls can weigh up to 1,500 kilograms. The black rhino has a pointed, forward-facing lip. It uses it to grab food and tear off branches and twigs.
Black rhinos were once widespread across much of Africa. Because they feed on branches and twigs, they were not limited to the savannas and could also survive in semi-deserts and steppes. Today, however, black rhinos are found almost exclusively in eastern Africa and Namibia.
Find out:
14. Where can you still find black rhinos today?
8 How Rhinos Live
Male rhinos frequently engage in fierce fights
Image: Hamsterkiste
The males of the two African rhino species roam the steppes and savannas alone. They usually have established territories, which they mark with urine. They defend these territories against other males, sometimes leading to serious fights. Rhinos are nevertheless usually peaceful animals. They can become dangerous only when provoked. Despite their size and weight, they can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h.
The bulls only join the females during mating season. Each female gives birth to a single calf. Newborn rhinos can walk after just a few hours. They weigh around 50 kg at birth and are nursed by their mothers for about a year. They stay with their mothers for two and a half to three years. Female rhinos can have their first calf at around 6 to 8 years of age. Females and their young sometimes form small groups.
Rhinos need up to 80 litres of water a day, but they can go for several days without water. They like to stay near water sources. Rhinos have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but can only see about 20 metres. Rhinos have no natural enemies, although very rarely, young rhinos are attacked by lions or leopards.
Find out:
15. How fast can rhinos run?
16. How much do young rhinos weigh at birth?
17. Why do rhinos like to stay near waterholes?
18. What are rhinoceroses good at, and what are they less good at?
9 Rhinos are endangered
Rhino hunting in Africa in 1905
Image: public domain
The natural habitat of rhinos is shrinking as roads are built, settlements expand and farmland spreads. In the past, rhinos were hunted in large numbers. Because they reproduce slowly, their numbers fell sharply everywhere. Rhino hunting is now banned, but many rhinos are still killed by poachers.
The animals’ horns are considered a special remedy for certain illnesses in traditional Chinese medicine. Although it has been proven that the horns do not help cure diseases, the old belief persists. Even today, people in Asia pay a great deal of money for a single horn.
Many countries now have protected areas guarded by rangers, where rhino numbers are increasing. Over the past 15 years, the number of African rhinos has at least doubled. Even so, these large animals remain endangered.
Find out:
19. Why are many rhinos killed by poachers?
20. How have rhino numbers been increased again?