Rhinoceros

A rhinoceros (rhino for short) is any animal in the family Rhinocerotidae. They are in the order Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates. There are five living species. Two of these species are native to Africa.  Three of these species are also native to Southern parts of Asia. 

 Taxonomy 
 Family Rhinocerotidae
 Black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis
 White rhinoceros, or square-lipped rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum
 Javan rhinoceros, Rhinoceros sondaicus
 Indian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis
 Sumatran rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis

 Habitat 
All five rhinoceros species are native to Africa or Asia. The two species in Africa are the White rhinoceros and the Black rhinoceros. The three species in Asia (including islands of Indonesia) are the Javan rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Indian rhinoceros.

 Life 
The rhinoceros is a herbivore. Its favourite food is plants, branches and bushes (if it is a browser species), or grass (if it is a grazer species).

Rhinoceroses have a large horn on the nose. Their horns are not like those of other horned mammals: the rhinoceros' horn is made of keratin packed together very tightly.  

The rhinoceroses can weigh up to  and be up to  tall.

 Rhinoceros and humans 
Only the white rhinoceros is not in critical danger of becoming extinct.  They are protected, but hunted mainly by poachers, for their horns.  The horns are used in Asian medicine, similar to elephants and tigers, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman.  Loss of habitat is also a danger to rhinos.  Governments have made logging their habitat and poaching illegal.

 Related pages 
Elasmotherium, a large extinct rhinoceros.

 Other websites 

 Rhinoceros information from the International Rhino Foundation