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Great One-Horned Rhinocerous (Rhinocerous unicornis)
Great One-Horned Rhinocerous (Rhinocerous unicornis)
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Great One-Horned Rhinocerous (Rhinocerous unicornis)
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It is also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi). The Indian rhinoceros has a thick grey-brown skin with pinkish skin folds and a black horn. 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 have huge neck folds. Its skull is heavy with a basal length above 60 cm (24 in) and an occiput above 19 cm (7.5 in). Its nasal horn is slightly back-curved with a base of about 18.5 cm (7.3 in) by 12 cm (4.7 in) that rapidly narrows until a smooth, even stem part begins about 55 mm (2.2 in) above base. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob.
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 (9.8 in), but has been recorded up to 36 cm (14 in) in length and weight 3.051 kg (6.73 lb). Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, the Indian rhinoceros is second in size only to the Asian elephant. It is also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the white rhinoceros. Males have a head and body length of 368–380 cm with a shoulder height of 170–186 cm, while females have a head and body length of 310–340 cm and a shoulder height of 148–173 cm (4.86–5.68 ft). The male, averaging about 2,200 kg is heavier than the female, at an average of about 1,600 kg. Pictures taken in Kaziranga National Park credit to @keyurpatel1504  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Adult male Indian rhinos are usually solitary. Groups consist of females with calves, or of up to six subadults. Such groups congregate at wallows and grazing areas. They are foremost active in early mornings, late afternoons and at night, but rest during hot days. They are excellent swimmers and can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h (34 mph) for short periods. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but relatively poor eyesight. Indian rhinos have few natural enemies, except for tigers, which sometimes kill unguarded calves, but adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their size.
The Indian rhinoceros forms a variety of social groupings. Adult males are generally solitary, except for mating and fighting. Adult females are largely solitary when they are without calves. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth, sometimes allowing an older calf to continue to accompany her once a newborn calf arrives. Subadult males and females form consistent groupings, as well. Groups of two or three young males will often form on the edge of the home ranges of dominant males, presumably for protection in numbers. Young females are slightly less social than the males. Indian rhinos also form short-term groupings, particularly at forest wallows during the monsoon season and in grasslands during March and April. Groups of up to 10 rhinos may gather in wallows—typically a dominant male with females and calves, but no subadult males. All pictures taken in Kaziranga National Park, credits to @ikaranpareek @clicking_raja @it.s_me_arjun @the_hidden_north_east_india and @pritam_baruah  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
They have rich genetic diversity meaning they have high scope for long term survival.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Behaviour,
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Skull of Indian rhinoceros in The Horniman Museum, a museum in Forest Hill, London
Indian rhinos have one short horn as can be seen in the picture of the skull and have two big teeth they use when they are fighting each other, they can inflict a lot of damage with their teeth, it is the biggest difference with their African cousins Black and White rhinos that don´t have those teeth and only use their big horns when they fight.  *This image is copyright of its original author
More pictures,
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Outcome of 2015 rhino estimation in kaziranga,
The Kaziranga National Park authorities conducted the 12th Rhino population estimation exercise from the 24th to 27th March, 2015, wherein counts of animals was done from 24th to 27th March, 2015. The third day was kept for sample recheck and recount of compartments. In the population estimation exercise, a total of 40 enumerators, 22 independent observers, 16 media observes, 36 elephants were deployed to cover in all 81 compartments spread over the Kaziranga National Park, its addition areas and other adjoining forest and civil areas. For the first time GPS and Binoculars were deployed to assist the enumerators in better observation. The computation of the count data was carried out by a Committee notified by the Director, Kaziranga National Park on the 28th March, 2015. The Committee was headed by Dr. C. Muthu Kumarvel IFS, DFO, Golaghat Division. The rhino population in Kaziranga and the adjoining areas spread over 81 compartments has been estimated at 2401 ± 100. The break up of the estimation in various age/sex categories is given below: Adults: Male 663, Female 802, Unsexed 186 Sub-adults(4-6 years) Male 90, Female 114, Unsexed 90 Juvenile (1-3 years) 251, Calf (<1 year) 205 Total 2401 Source: http://kaziranga.assam.gov.in/wp/wiki/rh...tion-2015/ |
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