Greater One-Horned Rhino Facts
Do you think you now know all there is to know about One-Horned Rhinos? We present a little info that's sure to attract your interest.
- There are 2500 left in the wild. The overall population has slowly increased from as few as 200 at the beginning of the 20th century.
- The captive population in zoos is now stable and viable as an insurance policy in case of extinctions of the wild populations.
- Greater One-Horned rhino have the most folded skin of the 5 rhino species.
- Instead of using their horn to fight, the males use their long, sharp lower teeth.
- The Moghul emperors used to use the rhino in staged fights against elephant with often the rhinoceros winning the battle. Happily this no longer is practiced.
- They are very good swimmers although many drown each year in the annual floods and they spend up to 60% of the day wallowing.
- They have a folding upper lip that can grasp leaves and twigs but can fold it away to graze on the tall grass of the terrain.