It’s true – rhinoceros species won’t touch meat despite their fearsome appearances. The rhino brain is said to be very small, at least compared to their great bulk overall! That said, a small brain is certainly not an indicator of poor intelligence. Rhinos take mud baths regularly, simply because it helps them to stop getting bitten by the odd nasty bug. Thankfully, times have moved on more than a little. We have, apparently, been using powdered horn of the rhinoceros in medicine for hundreds of years. The biggest horn ever recorded grew to be an astonishing 60 inches long! Rhino horns can grow to be absolutely colossal. The rhino isn’t best-known for its eyesight – which is why its hearing and its smell really do make up for things. The rhino is actually a close relative of the tapir, as well as the zebra.
That means there is significant effort being undertaken to try and keep them propagating! In fact, it is the Javan, black and Sumatran rhino species that are considered the most at-risk. That’s a reduction of more than 420,000 in just over a century. Rhinos are seriously endangered.ĭevastatingly, it is thought that there are fewer than 30,000 rhinos left living in the wild today. Weirdly enough, the rhinoceros certainly makes a noise, but it’s at such a n advanced frequency that we can’t actually hear it. Spare a thought for female rhinos – they stay pregnant for up to 18 months, double the human period! 8. Rhinos don’t always use horns on the attack.īelieve it or not, the rhino is actually more likely to attack with their teeth than with their horns. They can grow to be up to 6,000lbs in weight – and 2,000lbs of that might just be their heads! 6. Rhinos as animals are already pretty big, but the white rhino takes the cake. Don’t worry, as they can grow back – but it can take up to three years. It’s commonplace for rhinos to sometimes have their horns partially removed so they are not hunted and killed by poaching humans. The word ‘rhino’ actually means nose – and ‘ceros’, meanwhile, means horn! Their name literally means ‘nose horn’. The black rhino and also the white rhino are both actually grey in color – so why the names? Search us! 3. Rhinos have been around a long, long time – their ancestors were said to be around more than 50 million years ago. Here are some fun facts to get you started! 1. Whether it’s September when you are reading this, or indeed any other time of year, there are plenty of great things you can learn about these mighty mammals. September 22nd, World Rhino Day, aims to educate the world a little bit more on why this species is so important to our ecosystem.
Black rhinos have a prehensile lip that is used much like a finger to select and pick the leaves and twigs they prefer.
It grows from the skin and is made up of keratin fibers, the same material found in hair and nails. What is it about these critters that is making them so endangered? A rhinos horn is not a true horn that is attached to the skull. The rhinoceros is an incredible beast – big, bold, and boasting an amazing horn, the rhino is also sadly one of the most-threatened creatures on the planet.