Indian Rhino

The Indian rhino or greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is now only found in a small number of sites in northern India and southern Nepal, but used to range across the entire northern portion of the Indian subcontinent (from what is now Pakistan to the Myanmar border).  Until a hunting ban in India in 1910, the species was very nearly extinct, with only 12 rhinos left at Kaziranga in 1908.  It has been a long and continuing struggle against poaching, habitat destruction and climate change to see an entire species population estimate approaching 1000 individuals by the late 1970’s, and finally passing 2500 only in the last 15 years.

Indian rhinos are the second largest terrestrial animal on the subcontinent, after the Asiatic elephant and the second largest living rhino species, behind the (African) white rhino.  The males weigh in around 2200kg, measuring 170-185cm at the shoulder, and females reach an average of 1600kg and 150-175cm in height.  Both males and females grow a single ‘horn’ which appears around 6 years of age as they approach breeding age in the wild, and reaches around 25cm in length; this is in fact made of pure keratin – like our finger nails!  The skin of an Indian rhino resembles armoured-plating, with thick skinfolds and wart-like bumps on their shoulders and upper legs.

They are grazers, eating mainly grasses but also leaves and branches of shrubby trees, fruits and aquatic plants.  They have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but poor eyesight, they are great swimmers and can run in short bursts at over 30mph.  The rhinos can be observed in small loose groups of around 6 subadults or adult females with calves, adult males are more often solitary but can remain surprisingly tolerant of others except in mating season.  Groups form around wallows and grazing areas, and the rhinos are most active early morning and late afternoon, and rest or wallow regularly during the heat of the day.  Their skin folds increase their surface area, allowing them to better regulate their temperature, also trapping water in the folds when wallowing.

The largest individual populations remain in Kaziranga (Assam) and Chitwan (Nepal), with each of the remaining nine sites each listing fewer than 100 rhinos.  In fact Kaziranga is currently home to more than 70% of the wild Indian rhino population, putting the core population at considerable risk each time the land is threatened by flood in the monsoon season or drought in the peak of dry spells.