I amor all animales of the world. They are all beautiful and wonderfully, uniquely made. Every animal has a purpose and role to play on Earth. But my favorito! animal would be the rhinoceros. Many people out there think they're ugly, dirty, bad-tempered, and they just don't care. But I amor them - they are so unique, cool, primitive, prehistoric creatures that have been on Earth for thousands of years. There used to be más than 100 rhino species that lived on almost all continents but Antarctica, but due to climate change and hunting, only 5 remain:
1. The Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis) - it lives in Africa, and was once widespread (in 1960, there were 77,000!) but because of horrible poaching, they are listed as a Critically Endangered species and only about 3,000 remain. Most people claim them to be 'bad-tempered', but they are NOT! Rhinos have excellent sense of smell and hearing, but poor eyesight, and they tend to get spooked (scared) easily; the Black Rhino gets scared easily the most of all the other rhino species; not that it's mean! Rhinos in general, despite its huge size, are shy, quiet, non-predatory, peaceful, and herbivorous animales that do not like starting fights. But when provoked, frightened on purpose, harassed, o someone attacks a mother with a calf, a rhino may charge.
Black rhinos are browsers, and use their prehensile upper lip to pluck leaves off trees. They are also called the "Hook-Lipped Rhino".
2. The White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) - it lives in Africa too, and is the segundo largest land mammal on Earth. It is a grazer, with a broad upper lip that is designed for them to graze; they are also referred to as the "Wide-lipped Rhino". It is called 'white' because of a Dutch word 'weit', which means 'wide'.
They are supposedly más docile than the Black Rhino, even though it is larger. These rhinos are the most social - a crash (group of rhinos) consists of up to 7 members.
3. The Indian Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) - also called the "Greater one-Horned Rhino", lives in India, Kaziranga, and Nepal. They amor to wallow in swamps, and lives in wetlands and lush forests. Their body looks like it's armor-plated; it's really neat. At the beginning of the 20th century, this fascinating species was almost extinct; only 100 remained. But 100 years later, (now), due to wonderful conservation and care, their population is now 2,000. Nevertheless, they are still protected from poachers under the law.
4. The Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) - this rhino is sadly one of the parte superior, arriba 10 endangered mammals on earth. Only 60 remain in the jungles of Borneo, Java, and Indonesia; and are currently none in captivity o zoos. The last one recorded in a zoo was in 1890; now they are too rare to capture. So depressing! But at least people are helping - people are releasing perros in the jungles to help sniff out their dung, which is helpful - if a dog sniffs out it's dung, it will be known that a Javan Rhino is inhabiting that area. How cool!
5. The Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) - (my personal favorite) This amazing, beautiful, and unique rhino lives in the jungles of southeast Asia; it is thought to be closely related to the extinct Woolly Rhino, which died out at the end of the last Ice Age. This is because they are the only living rhino specie that has reddish-brown hair covering it's body! They are also extremely endangered - only 300 remain! How terrible to lose such an extraordinary creature! I have so much to say about this type of rhino that I'll make another articulo about it.
General Rhino facts:
-Rhinos wallow in mud to rid their tough but sensitive skin of biting insects that can transmit disease. Rhinos also have a symbiotic relationship with oxpeckers and other birds that perca on a rhino's back and pluck the insects off it.
-Rhinos are in the order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), which consists of tapirs and horses.
-Like horses, rhinos run fast (surprisingly, up to 30 mi/hr!) and gallop in the same manner as a horse; they trot and gallop, too!
-The Asian rhinos (Sumatran, Javan, and Indian rhinos) fight using their sharp incisors; and the African rhinos (Black and White rhinos) use their horns to fight for females, territory, o to defend their calves from predators.
-The Sumatran, Black, and White rhinos have 2 horns; whereas the Indian and Javan rhinos have only one.
-Rhinos, amazingly, tend to be extremely docile and attached to their zookeepers/caretakers that take care of them and feed them. They never kill their keepers (like elephants, and tigers) and form a great bond with humans once they get attached.
Elephants, hippos, crocs, and cape buffaloes are surprisingly más dangerous than rhinos! Can tu believe that!
If tu want to know más about rhino-human relationships, read the story of Anna Merz - it is so amazing!
Thanks for lectura this article. I appreciate tu for wanting to know everything about the magnificent rhino. Please respect them like the "cute and cuddly" ones, too, because they are disappearing every single mes and aren't getting a lot of amor and help.
If tu choose to respect the rhino, that's wonderful! If tu want to know más about them o see pictures, contact o comentario me. I will be happy to do so!
God Bless tu :)
