Details
Rhinoceros unicornis
Indian rhinoceros is a huge one-horned rhinoceros with armor-like folds of skin. Reserve protection helped some populations recover, but horn poaching and lowland development remain threats.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives in riverine grasslands, wetlands, and forest edges of northern India and Nepal. Main habitat types in this guide are grassland, freshwater, forest.
Typical length 310-380 cm, weight 1.6 t-2.7 t. A single horn, heavy body, and plate-like skin folds give it a distinctive profile.
It is active in repeated bouts across day and night and usually solitary. It often uses water and mud wallows and moves through grassy lowlands.
It is herbivorous. Tall grasses, shoots, aquatic plants, and fruit are cropped with flexible lips.
Females bear single calves and keep them close for an extended period.
Habitat loss and human pressure make conservation attention important. Reserve protection helped some populations recover, but horn poaching and lowland development remain threats.
