Nature Diary
Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)

The Indian rhinoceros is also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros or the Indian one-horned rhinoceros because of its prominent single horn. It is listed as a vulnerable species according to the IUCN classification (red book).
It is primarily found in north-eastern India in Assam and in protected areas in the Terai of Nepal, mostly in the riverine grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain as can be seen from the shaded area of the map. Excessive hunting reduced the natural habitat drastically. In 1910, all rhino hunting in India became prohibited. Today, more than 3,000 rhinos live in the wild 2,544 of which are found in India's Assam alone. The Kaziranga National Park has most of these large animals. This is a real success story since Assam had only about 200 rhino in the early 1900s. In fact, rhinos are regionally extinct in Pakistan.
The Indian rhinoceros is second in size only to the Asian elephant (on land) and it is the fifth largest land animal. They are more than twice the height of humns ans can weigh 1500 to 2000 kg!
The rhino's single horn is present in both males and females, but not on newborn young. The black horn is pure keratin, like human fingernails, and starts to show after about six years. In most adults, the horn reaches a length of about 25 cm. The Indian rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin, which becomes pinkish near the large skin folds that cover its body. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. It has very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush. Males develop thick neck folds.
Rhinos are mostly solitary creatures. They can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h for short periods and are excellent swimmers. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but relatively poor eyesight.
Indian rhinoceros are grazers eating mostly grass, but they also eat leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruits, etc. They use their prehensile lips to grasp grass stems, bend the stem down, bite off the top, and then eat the grass. They tackle very tall grasses or saplings by walking over the plant, with legs on both sides and using the weight of their bodies to push the end of the plant down to the level of the mouth.
The state of Assam has the one-horned rhino as its official state animal.