Bulls competing for a female try to intimidate each other by charging one another. Males and females often fight during courtship, too. Some of the fighting may turn violent and bloody from wounds inflicted with the horns. Once mating is over, males and females go their separate ways again. Fourteen to eighteen months later, a calf is born.
Calves are on their feet within hours of birth.
And, although they nurse for a year, they begin eating vegetation in about a week. Calves remain close to their mother until they are about 3 years old. At this time, another calf may have been born and the mother chases off her older offspring. In captivity, rhinos may live for up to 40 years, but biologists estimate they live about 30 to 35 years in the wild. For the most part, rhinos are solitary animals.