INDIAN RHINOCEROSES: CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR AND COMEBACK

INDIAN RHINOS

Indian rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros unicornis) are large, herbivorous mammals found in tropical grasslands, forests and wetlands. They and Javan rhinoceroses belong to the genus Rhinoceros, the only genus in Rhinocerotidae (the rhinoceros family) to possess one horn, incisors, and lower canines. The Javan and Indian rhinoceros are very similar in appearance but the Indian rhinoceroses are much larger in size, with individual Indian rhinoceroses weighing up 3000 kilograms, making them one of the largest members of the Family Rhinocerotidae and one of the largest land animals period. [Source: Evan Smith, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Indian rhinoceroses primarily live in grasslands and forests of Northern India and Southern Nepal. The species once roamed from Pakistan in the West to the Indian-Burmese border in the East, inhabiting the river basins of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. Alluvial plain is the primary and preferred habitat. Adjacent swamp and forest areas are also used. They prefer having a source of water nearby, to create features such as muddy riverbanks, or mud pits to wallow in during the heat of the day. Indian rhinoceroses occupy the grasslands surrounding great river systems today but has occupied nearby forests in the past. The species is mainly a grazer, but has the ability to browse on fruits, branches, and the occasional cultivated crop.

Indian rhinoceroses are herbivores (primarily eat plants or plants parts), They are are also classified as folivores (eat leaves) and lignivores (eat wood). Their diet consists of grass, fruit, leaves, branches, aquatic plants, and cultivated crops. Tall reedy grasses are preferred to short species.
Rhinoceros species are generalist browsers with a prehensile upper lip. Their prehensile upper lip allows them to grasp woody branches and pull them into their mouth. These rhinos tend to feed mainly at twilight and at night, curling their upper lip around the stems to bend and bite the tend tips. They are also the most aquatic rhino. They are often seen wading or swimming, in wide rivers. The prehensile upper lip is used to curl around grass stems to bring them into the mouth. When eating aquatic plants, rhinos submerge their entire heads and tear the plant up by the roots. Foraging occurs at night, in early morning, or late afternoon to avoid the heat of the day. Indian rhinoceroses drinks daily and is fond of mineral licks. [Source: Bridget Fahey, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Rhinoceros species have few predators. As with all rhino species, adults are so large that they don't have any predators. Tigers may prey upon their young, usually six months or younger. Being large megaherbivores, rhinos have a variety of impacts on their ecosystem. The main impact is upon the vegetation, as animals of their size eat significant amounts of vegetation that could alter the landscape if left unchecked. Indian rhinoceroses creates paths in the forest they occupy. Indian rhinoceroses have a close relationship with the cattle egret. Cattle egrets will follow rhinos around, waiting to eat any invertebrates the large mammals may kick up. Javan rhinoceroses creates mud wallows, that a variety of species use when the rhinos aren't around.

Indian Rhinoceros Characteristics

The Indian rhinoceros is the second largest animal in Asia after the Asian elephant and the second largest rhinoceros. It stands at 1.75 to 2.0 meters (5.75 to 6.5 feet) at the shoulder and are three to four meters long. The largest one ever recorded weight approximately 3,800 kilograms. Its size is comparable to that of the white rhino in Africa. Generally, Indian rhinoceroses range in weight from 1500 to 2000 kilograms (3304 to 4405 pounds). Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are larger than females. Fully grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500 to 3,200 kilograms (5,500 to 7,100 pounds). Female Indian rhinos weigh about 1,900 kilograms. [Source: Bridget Fahey, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

wart-like bumps on the Indian rhino's rear end and hind legs

The Indian rhinoceros is also called greater one-horned rhinoceros as opposed to and the lesser Asian one-horned rhinoceros — the Javanese rhinoceros. The Indian species has thick, silver-brown skin which creates huge folds all over its body. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps, and it has very little body hair. The single horn of the Indian rhino reaches a length of between 20 and 100 centimeters. Males have larger, tusklike incisors for fighting other males during the breeding season.

Both male and female Indian rhinoceroses have a single dark horn on the nose, made from agglutinated hairs and averaging 30 to 55 centimeters in length. Their horn is not made of bone, but of densely packed keratin, and continuously grows as a result. Rhinos don’t use their horns to protect themselves. The only time is when mothers must fend off a predator that is pursuing their calf.[Source: Evan Smith, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The skin of Indian rhinoceroses has many loose folds, especially distinct around the neck region in males. The deeps folds in its skin create a plating effect, making the animal look as if is wearing armor, which is accentuated by tubercles (lumps), especially on the sides and rear. These resemble rivets. The pink skin within the folds is vulnerable to parasites. These are sometimes removed by egrets and tick birds. Indian rhinos have very little body hair aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush.

Rhinoceros species have a lifespan of 30-40 years in the wild. The oldest individual of Indian rhinoceroses recorded reached 40 years old. Synapomorphies (characteristics found in an ancestral species and shared by their evolutionary descendants) include a single horn composed of keratin, skin folds and large lower incisors

Indian Rhinoceros Behavior and Communication

Indian rhinoceroses are terricolous (live on the ground), diurnal (active during the daytime), nocturnal (active at night) motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and solitary. According to Animal Diversity Web: Indian rhinoceroses are usually solitary except for females with young and small groups of adolescent males. Loosely bound aggregations of a few individuals do occur, especially at wallowing grounds or foraging areas. There are loosely defined territories in males which are not well defended, and often these territories overlap. [Source: Bridget Fahey, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The Indian rhino is a creature of habit. Every evening it visits regular sites to wallow in the mud. It is often found in areas of tall grass, an environment also favored by tigers. The grasses can grow as tall as eight meters high in the wet season and serve as a hiding place and a primary sources of food. A typical rhino has a territory of two to eight square kilometers, whose size is dependant on the availability of food and the quality of the habitat. Males are tolerant of intruders into their territory outside the breeding season. A single calf is usually born after a 16 month gestation period. It typically stays with the mother until her next offspring is born, which ma be three years later

historical and present range of the Indian rhino

Occasionally rhino interactions are aggressive, characterized by charges, and horn clashes. Fighting between males is often a cause of death when population densities are high. Approximately 10 vocalizations are known for rhinos, including snorts, roars, and honks. Scent deposition is common, and often large communal dung heaps are formed.

Rhinoceros males occupy a territory, with females moving freely about. Indian rhinoceroses males have constantly changing territories depending on the season with possible overlap of territories with other males, and will defend their territory aggressively from other males. Rhinoceros species are active throughout the day and night. They use mud wallows frequently to escape high temperatures. [Source: Evan Smith, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Indian rhinoceroses sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell and communicate with sound and chemicals usually detected by smelling. They also leave scent marks produced by special glands and placed so others can smell and taste them. Rhinoceros species have poor eyesight. They rely on their developed hearing and sense of smell. They communicate with others in their species mainly through scents, along with some vocalizations. Indian rhinoceroses have 12 different vocalizations recorded, ranging from snorts, honks, and even roars. Indian rhinoceroses leave dung heaps at the edge of their territories, and then walk through it to spread the scent around even further. Some individuals leave dung heaps on top of other individuals dung heaps, resulting in a pile that can be five meters wide.

Indian Rhino Social Behavior

According to "The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros" by E. Dinerstein: The Indian rhinoceros forms a variety of social groupings. Adult males are generally solitary, except for mating and fighting. Adult females are largely solitary when they are without calves. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth, sometimes allowing an older calf to continue to accompany her once a newborn calf arrives. Subadult males and females form consistent groupings as well. Groups of two or three young males will often form on the edge of the home ranges of dominant males, presumably for protection in numbers. Young females are slightly less social than the males. Indian rhinos also form short-term groupings, particularly at forest wallows during the monsoon season and in grasslands during March and April. Groups of up to 10 rhinos may gather in wallows — typically a dominant male with females and calves, but no subadult males. [Source: Wikipedia; Dinerstein, E. The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros (2003, Columbia University Press)]

The Indian rhinoceros makes a wide variety of vocalizations. At least ten distinct vocalizations have been identified: snorting, honking, bleating, roaring, squeak-panting, moo-grunting, shrieking, groaning, rumbling and humphing. In addition to noises, the rhino uses olfactory communication. Adult males urinate backwards, as far as 3 to 4 meters behind them, often in response to being disturbed by observers. Like all rhinos, the Indian rhinoceros often defecates near other large dung piles. The Indian rhino has pedal scent glands which are used to mark their presence at these rhino latrines. Males have been observed walking with their heads to the ground as if sniffing, presumably following the scent of females.

In aggregations, Indian rhinos are often friendly. They will often greet each other by waving or bobbing their heads, mounting flanks, nuzzling noses, or licking. Rhinos will playfully spar, run around, and play with twigs in their mouth. Adult males are the primary instigators in fights. Fights between dominant males are the most common cause of rhino mortality and males are also very aggressive toward females during courtship. Males will chase females over long distances and even attack them face-to-face. Unlike African rhinos, the Indian rhino fights with its incisors, rather than its horns.

Indian Rhinoceros Mating, Reproduction and Offspring

Breeding for Indian rhinoceroses occurs throughout the year. According to Animal Diversity Web: Only dominant bulls mate, and it is believed that they can assess the reproductive status of females through scent. Courtship may seem aggressive — males chase females and fighting often ensues. After a gestation period of 480 days, one young is born weighing 70 kilograms. Weaning usually occurs in one year, although it may last up to 18 months. Sexual maturity is reached at an age of nine years for males, and four for females. The lifespan is about 40 years. [Source: Bridget Fahey, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Indian rhinoceroses are a solitary species, with males and females only coming together to mate. They are known for their brutal fighting between males, that may lead to the death of one of the males. Males fight for the right to mate with females. Thick skin folds are used for protection from each other, both males and females, during fighting for the right to mate or fighting with their mate. They use their incisors in the front to gore their counterparts. Javan rhinoceros males and females spare or skirmish with one another before mating, but not to the extent of Indian rhinoceroses. [Source: Evan Smith, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Indian rhinoceroses females give birth every 3-4 years. One week before the next birth, the female will chase away her previous calf.Parental care and Pre-independence protection is provided by females. There is an extended period of juvenile learning. There is extensive parental investment from the females. Calves spend the first year and a half with their mothers before being pushed away. Calves rely strictly upon their mother's milk for the first 3-5 months before they can forage on their own. Females provide milk and protection from predators for the first 12-24 months. Anywhere along that time frame will calves wean and be pushed away by their mothers. Males play no role in the rearing of young.

Indian Rhinoceros and Humans

Rhinos can injure humans and are sometimes a crop pest. They have been known to injure crops by trampling and consumption. At one point, a government bounty was established to keep rhinos from ruining tea plantations. In addition, there are recorded fatalities as a result of an attacks by rhinos, usually when a mother with calf was startled. /=\

The main economic importance of Rhinoceros species is tourism. Indian rhinoceroses have become a very popular ecotourism attraction in India and Nepal. An entire tourism industry is starting to emerge outside of the national parks in India and Nepal where Indian rhinoceroses are found.

Indian rhinoceroses are found increasingly in human-wildlife conflicts as its numbers rise. Individuals find their way into local community's crops routinely, causing thousands of dollars of damages. Being such a large animal, there have been numerous human fatalities recorded at the hands of Indian rhinoceroses. /=\

There are 60 captive Indian rhinos in the U.S. Nikki, an Indian rhinoceros at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, produced a calf in the first live birth of an Indian rhino conceived by artificial insemination. Nikki was born at the Toronto Zoo in 1991 and later was moved to the Cincinnati zoo, where she died at age 23 in 2014. The zoo says it was a breakthrough when she was impregnated through artificial insemination. The first time ended with a stillbirth in 2008. The second time the calf died after birth in 2010. [Source: Associated Press, July 4, 2014]

Endangered Indian Rhinos

rhino sizes

About 4,100 Indian rhinoceros remain in India and Nepal, up from 1,700 in 1984 and 2000 in 2010. More than half the Indian rhinos that remain in the wild live in Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The park also contains a large numbers of tigers. Indian rhinoceros populations are healthy even though 266 rhinos is India were killed for their horn between 1989 and 1993. Protection in Nepal and India have increased its numbers to where translocation is possible.

On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, Indian rhinoceroses are listed as Vulnerable. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix I, which lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants.

The Indian rhinoceros is now found almost exclusively in Nepal and northeastern India in the tall grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas. It once ranged across the entire Ganges plain, but when large tracts of swamp land and reed jungles was converted to farms their numbers declined sharply. They now exist only in several scattered and fragmented protected areas of India (in Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat and a few pairs in Uttar Pradesh) and Nepal, plus a few pairs in Lal Suhanra National Park in Pakistan. The rhinos that live in these areas are threatened by poaching and loss of habitat.

Indian rhinoceroses are severely threatened by hunting activities due to the huge economic value of the horn. According to Animal Diversity Web: Asian rhino horn can be sold for more than twice its weight in gold. After processing, it has been known to reach $30,000 per kilograms. The horn is used as a medicine and an aphrodisiac. Medicinal purposes are as a pain reliever and a fever suppressant. There are no scientific studies, however, that show that rhino horn is effective for any of these purposes. In addition to the horn, rhino hide, blood, urine, and dung also have economic value. [Source: Bridget Fahey, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Indian rhinoceroses dropped down to only 200 individuals in the early 1900's mainly due to over harvesting and the transformation of their alluvial plain habitat to farmland. Now they have a stable population, but little habitat to occupy. The main threat to Indian rhinoceroses in the future will be poaching for their horn and further habitat loss. Future conservation actions look at expanding their population by reintroducing Indian rhinoceroses to more of its former range.

Current projects are underway to reintroduced populations in areas where they have been extirpated. Such projects will only be successful if the reason for the initial downfall of rhinos — overhunting by humans — can be eliminated. Efforts to control poaching and illegal wildlife trade will help in the recovery of the Indian rhino. One population in Nepal is protected with 700 armed troops and rangers, almost two guards per rhino. Aside from overhunting, the loss of alluvial plain habitat to agriculture has resulted in a reduction of suitable rhino habitat. /=\

Poaching of Indian Rhinos in Assam

Rhinos in Kaziranga

In August 2012, Manimugdha S Sharma of TNN wrote: “Poachers killed a full-grown male rhinoceros inside a forest in Jorhat district, Assam. A forest department team found the carcass in the woods hand-reared by 'forest man of India' Jadav Payeng. "I heard gunshots around 10am and immediately alerted the forest department. But nobody came until Thursday morning. It was the only rhino in my forest. I have lost him," Payeng told TOI amid sobs. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Naba Kumar Malakar confirmed the killing and said the team did not find any visible proof of poaching despite combing the forest the whole day. "The poachers sawed off the rhino horn and its nails. We have found holes in the hide, which look like bullet wounds,” Malakar said. [Source: Manimugdha S Sharma, TNN August 4, 2012]

Ranger Pankaj Kalita said the difficulties in reaching the forest — locally known as 'Molai Kathoni' (Molai's Woods) after Payeng's pet name Molai — also hampered the search operation. But not everyone has been convinced by this "explanation". "I had called up the forest office around 12pm on Wednesday when I learnt about the gunshots from Payeng. Why did it take four hours for the message to be relayed to the DFO? If they had acted with alacrity, they could have nabbed the poachers before they left the forest. Poachers were seen earlier in the forest and two of them had been arrested due to Payeng's timely information. Only if they had acted with a sense of urgency," said Jitu Kalita, Payeng's associate.

This year's flood in Assam alone claimed 17 rhinos in Kaziranga National Park, with poachers adding two more to the tally last month. With this latest killing, the rhino death toll in the state has gone up to 20. That's an awful statistic for Assam that is the last home for the Indian rhino in India.

Rhinos in Kaziranga National Park in India

Kaziranga National Park (60 miles from Jorhat in Assam) in Assam contains more than half to two thirds of all the one-horned Indian rhinoceroses that remain in the wild (1,200 animals). The number of rhinos grew from 366 in 1966 to 1,080 in 1984 to 1,500 in 2000. Few visitors leave the park with having seen a rhino. Kazirnaga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nestled between the Brahmaputra River and the Mikir Hills, with the Himalayas in the distance, Kazirnaga covers 430 square kilometers (260 square miles) and is located on a long, spongy flood plain of the Brahmaputra. It is primarily open country, which gives visitors a good opportunity to see wildlife, and covered with elephant grass, up to ten feet tall, and swampy ground fed by numerous creeks.

Jessica Frei wrote on the Save the Rhinos website: “A large population of greater one-horned rhinos is found in Assam, India, which is a result of years of impactful conservation in the state. Started in the early 90s, conservation in Kaziranga was affirmed as a Proposed Reserve Forest in the year 1905. The journey of Kaziranga started from there and took many positive turns and twists. It was crowned as a Wildlife Sanctuary in the year 1950 and was accredited as a National park in the year 1974. UNESCO confirmed Kaziranga National Park as a World Heritage Site in December 1985. During this journey, Kaziranga faced many challenges, overcame various issues and stood as one of the remarkable wildlife conservations in India. [Source: Jessica Frei, Save the Rhinos, December 2013]

“The rhino census passed out by Kaziranga National Park in March 2013 (done every year), found an increase in the number of one-horned rhinos. According to them, the figure comes out as 2,329, which is an increase from the last year’s figure of 2,290. Apart from Kaziranga National Park, these wild animals are even found in various others wildlife safety areas in Assam. The total number of one-horned rhinos in Assam stands at 2,544 according to state wildlife officials.

More than 225 animals, including 15 Indian rhinos, were killed after floods ravaged Kaziranga wildlife reserve in northeast India in August 2017. Al Jazeera reported: Rising floodwaters have inundated large parts of the famous wildlife reserve killing 225 animals and forcing hundreds of others to flee. About 15 rare rhinos, 185 deer, and at least one Royal Bengal tiger have died in the devastating floods that submerged almost the entire Kaziranga National Park in Assam state, the park's director said. "Carcasses of animals were seen floating in the floodwaters. It's a heartbreaking scene," Satyendra Singh said. The flooding is the worst in three decades, he said.[Source: Al Jazeera, August 20, 2017]

At Kaziranga, nearly 80 percent of the 430-square-kilometer wildlife park was submerged. Some of the animals had crossed a highway and moved to higher land. The park, a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to the largest concentration of one-horned rhinos in the world. The Assam government had deployed security guards on the highway to protect the rhinos from poachers, said Singh, the park director. The park lost 105 animals to floods in July 2017. That takes the total number of animals killed so far this monsoon season to 335, he said.

Rhinos in Nepal

Nepal's protected forests were estimated by a census in 2011 to be home to more than 500 rhinos, most of them in Chitwan National Park, about 120km (75 miles) south-west of the capital Kathmandu. Nepal faced a serious problem of rhino poaching about 10 years ago when the country was affected by civil war between government forces and Maoist rebels. [Source: BBC, October 7, 2013 ^^]

In 2002, about 37 rhinos were killed by poachers, triggering grave concern over the future of one-horned rhinos. Their population dropped from an estimated 612 in 2000 to less than 375 in 2005. But numbers have increased to more than 500 after a series of anti-poaching measures were taken by the authorities. ^^

Rhinos are pictured on the back of very Nepalese 100 rupee note. Medicines made from rhino urine are used on ear infections , asthma, and tuberculosis. Rhino dung is smoked in a pipe to cure fever. "Nepali villagers," Eric Dinerstein wrote in Smithsonian magazine "seem uninterested in the horn but will pay good money for high-test urine." [Source: Heimanta Raj Mishra and Smithsonian, September 1987]

The rhino population of Nepal has increased from 95 in 1960s, to 260 in 1975 to 360 in 1986 to 600 in the early 2000s, about a fifth of the world's total. Most lives in Chitawan and Bardiya National Parks. Each year a land rovers and jeeps are charged by belligerent rhinos in Chitawan National Park and a couple of people get trampled or gored.

Rhinos in Royal Chitawan National Nepal

Wallowing Indian rhinos

Royal Chitawan National Park (a short flight or a long bus ride from Kathmandu) is one of the best places in the world to see Asian one horned rhinoceros and Bengal tiger. There are over 300 rhinoceros and one of the largest populations of tigers in Asia. The treks through park's marshes and tall grass, where most animals are spotted, are usually done on the backs of elephants. Situated in the lowlands of the Inner Terai of Nepal, Chitawan (also known as Chitwan at Chitaun) is Nepal's first and most famous national park. Covering an area of about 500 square miles and formerly a royal hunting ground, the park consists of floodplains, low hills and forests of kapok, acacia and sisam trees.

Because of the fertile soil and high water table, the grasses in Chitawan National Park grows ups to 25 feet high. In January, the grasses are often cut and burned off.A few weeks later the landscape is covered by tender shoots that feed large herds of chital and hog deer as well as rhinos. A month after the fires the grass is knee high, providing enough cover for tigers to stalk their prey. By April the grasses reach an elephant's eye.

The control of poaching and cattle grazing inside Chitawan by the Nepalese Army has been one of the main reasons for the animal's return. Soldiers are given orders to shoot poachers on sight Poachers that are caught are sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 100,000 rupees (around $1,500). Even so rhinos continue to be poached Rhinos in Nepal are also accidently electrocuted and poisoned. Some are swept away by monsoon rains and drown while they wallow in the mud.

The program to save rhinos has been so successful there is now an overpopulation of rhinos in Chitawan National Park are rhinos are being relocated . A new rhino population was established Bardiya to prevent against inbreeding and susceptibility to an epidemic.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated December 2024