Rhinos Orphaned by Poachers Now Back in the Wild

Text and photos by Natasha Anderson, Lowveld Rhino Trust, Zimbabwe

Natasha Anderson is the Rhino Monitoring Coordinator for Zimbabwe’s Lowveld Rhino Trust, which is supported by the International Rhino Foundation.  In this update, Natasha describes the reintroduction of two orphaned black rhino calves whose mothers had been killed by poachers.

The big day finally arrived. The team started early to avoid any unnecessary unsettling changes in the rhinos’ normal morning routine. Straight after their morning bottles of milk, both rhinos were tranquilized. Once the drugs took effect the capture team moved in, notching both rhinos’ ears for future identification purposes, drawing blood to analyse for health/disease checks, and fitting a horn transmitter to the older Bebrave to aid post-release monitoring.

Loading tranquilized rhino, Bebrave, for reintroduction

All the commotion attracted the attention of the hand-raised eland, Sparky, who had been Bebrave’s companion before Long Playing arrived. Watching all the activity over the fence, the eland was quite unaware that he was to be next, as the plan was to release all three hand-raised animals together since they had been living together for well over a year.

Sparky the eland observing the rhino release from the truck

The drive to the release area took nearly two hours, which is short by normal translocation standards. A quiet water point not normally used by the only other known rhino in the area was chosen in the hope that the two young rhinos will be able to establish new home ranges without disruption. The release went smoothly, the rhinos joining up with each other quickly before quietly walking off down the road – a hugely rewarding sight after a year-and-a-half of daily care.

Bebrave and Long Playing back in the wild

Sparky, the hand-raised eland, was released at the same water point. The hope was that the three friends would re-join each other in the bush. However, it appears that a herd of wild eland came through to drink at the release water point later that same day and Sparky has not been seen in the company of the young rhinos since. Hopefully he is now also back with his own kind.

Sparky the eland returns to the Lowveld

“R” is for Rhinos … and also for Raoul du Toit

Wildlife Heroes by Julie Scardina and Jeff Flocken

In their new book, Wildlife Heroes, authors Julie Scardina (SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) and Jeff Flocken (International Fund for Animal Welfare) spotlight 40 of the world’s leading wildlife conservationists.  Prominent on their list is Raoul du Toit, the International Rhino Foundation’s Africa Program Coordinator.  Raoul is no stranger to such honors that recognize his commitment to African rhinoceroses, having received the World Conservation Union’s prestigious Sir Peter Scott Award in 2009 and the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2011.

Raoul du Toit – Lowveld Rhino Trust

Raoul was born and still lives in Zimbabwe, a country that harbors the fourth largest populations of both black and white rhinos.    He holds degrees in zoology and environmental studies, but claims to have become involved in rhino conservation somewhat by chance.  In 1990, he established the Lowveld Rhino Conservancy Project, which became the Lowveld Rhino Trust (LRT) a decade later.  The LRT focuses its efforts in two privately-managed wildlife conservancies – Save Valley and Bubye Valley – converted cattle ranches that span a combined area of nearly one-and-a-half million acres and harbor several hundred rhinos, both black and white.  Following a period of intense poaching in the late 1980s, strategic conservation efforts helped Zimbabwe’s black rhino population rebound in the 1990s. Animals were moved from threatened areas to more secure conservancies, and the results are increasing rhino numbers in the Lowveld region, despite the recent rise in poaching pressure.

Lowveld Rhino Trust black rhino immobilization

Under Raoul’s direction and the auspices of Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Lowveld rhinos are monitored year round.  The goal is to identify every animal, using a system of distinct physical characters, tags and transmitters.  Local teams of rhino trackers work hand-in-hand with wildlife rangers and veterinarians both to prevent poaching and respond to emergencies.  Each year, dozens of rhinos are routinely immobilized for identification purposes or for veterinary treatment, and these procedures involve coordination of teams on foot, all-terrain vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.  In addition, the LRT must also deal occasionally with orphaned rhino calves whose mothers have been killed by poachers.  These animals may require rescue and rehabilitation, but are eventually returned to the wild.

Black rhino mother and calf – Lowveld Conservancies

As a result of all these efforts, the Bubye Valley Conservancy recently witnessed the birth of the 100th black rhino calf since recovery efforts began there 10 years ago.  With the continued success of intensive management efforts, experts estimate that only five years will be necessary for the next one hundred calves to be born.

Lowveld Rhino Trust Monitoring Team

Raoul relies on a very dedicated team of colleagues to accomplish these results.  Australian biologist Natasha Anderson coordinates both monitoring and local education programs, while fellow Zimbabweans Lovemore Mungwashu and Jackson Kamwi serve as operations coordinator and head rhino monitor, respectively.  Their collective work in the Lowlveld receives generous support from a variety of sources including government agencies, international foundations, zoological parks, corporations and individuals.

If you’d like to know more about rhino conservation in Zimbabwe, click on http://www.rhinos.org/zimbabwe-lowveld-rhino-program.

Raoul du Toit and black rhino

Stopping Vietnam’s War on Rhinos

Northern white rhino

Unfortunately, the rhino poaching crisis is nothing new. Throughout history these large land mammals have been subject to periods of unconscionable slaughter at the hand of man.  Of the five living species, four – the white, Indian, Sumatran and Javan – have, at one time or another, been reduced to populations of only a few hundred individuals or less. Perhaps more than any other species on the planet, rhinos define what it means to teeter on “the brink of extinction”.

The rhino’s problem isn’t an albatross around its neck, it’s the horn at the tip of its snout.  For centuries, millions of people in Asia have regarded rhino horn as medicine, and a growing number now consider it a status symbol as well. A Vietnamese citizen will shell out a relatively small fortune for an ounce of powdered rhino horn, but his or her ability to pay the purchase price has little to do with its effectiveness. It’s doubtful that the buyer has any clue to the “price” the rhino had to pay, and that situation must change.

The 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) in Bangkok, Thailand was recently attended by representatives of 179 CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) signatory countries. Discussions at COP 16 focused on the enforcement of existing wildlife laws and the imposition of international trade sanctions on countries like Vietnam if they do not clean up their acts. In order to curtail the illegal trade in horn, the parties agreed that specialized investigative techniques are necessary and that the problem of money-laundering must be addressed. They also called for consumer research that will help better understand the factors that are driving demand.

TRAFFIC WWF/IUCN Report: The South Africa-Vietnam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus

There are no more wild rhinos in Vietnam

A number of organizations are already working hard to document and analyze the trade that originates largely in the Republic of South Africa – a country that holds almost three-quarters of the world rhino population – and now ends primarily in Vietnam – a country has a rising standard of living but lost its last rhino only a couple of years ago. The International Rhino Foundation will help TRAFFIC: The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, translate a comprehensive report, The South Africa – Vietnam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus, and distribute it in Vietnam. Two other non-governmental organizations, Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) and South Africa’s Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) , are partnering on an anti-rhino poaching campaign that is both multi-media and bi-lingual. Posters encourage consumers to stop the slaughter by not using rhino horn, and to consider the baby rhinos that are orphaned by poaching. An ENV public service announcement supported by Save the Rhino – International and Conservation International’s Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund confronts rhino horn consumers as “ignorant, foolish, backward, cruel and evil”, and hammers home the message that rhino horn is neither status symbol nor medicine.

ENV & EWT anti-rhino poaching poster #1

ENV & EWT anti-rhino poaching poster #2

In 2012, more than 700 white and black rhinos were killed by poachers in southern Africa, 668 of them in the Republic of South Africa alone – a rate perilously close to two rhinos per day – and the slaughter shows need immediate signs of decreasing. Fortunately, up to this point, births have kept pace with deaths, but that situation is destined to change if nothing is done, and experts predict that African rhino populations will begin to spiral downward in only a couple of years.

If you would like to help support efforts to save southern Africa’s threatened rhinos, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/operation-stop-poaching-now.

The Curse of the Unicorn

The Unicorn in Captivity (from the Unicorn Tapestries) – Metropolitan Museum of Art

In his book, The Future of Life, biologist Edward O. Wilson had this to say about the first time he laid eyes upon the rare Sumatran rhinoceros in the flesh: “One of the most memorable events of my life occurred on a late May evening in 1994, in a back room of the Cincinnati Zoo, when I walked up to a four-year-old Sumatran rhinoceros named Emi, gazed into her lugubrious face for a while, and placed the flat of my hand against her hairy flank.  She made no response except maybe to blink her eyes. That’s it; that’s all that happened.  No matter: I had at last met my real-life unicorn.”

The unicorn is an imaginary creature that symbolizes purity.  It was first described by Ancient Greek naturalists as a species that inhabited the distant land of India.  Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) spoke of the monoceros, “a very fierce animal … which has the head of the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length.”  Perhaps the Indian rhinoceros comes to mind?

Greater One-horned or Indian Rhinoceros, Kaziranga National Park

The unicorn legend became popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  The creature was said to roam the woodlands and could only be captured by a virgin.  Many people believed that its horn, which was called an alicorn, was an antidote to poison and could be used to treat illness. Alicorns could be purchased from Scandinavian traders, but the price was extravagant – per weight, supposedly many times more than that of gold.  The average alicorn was grooved and about three feet long.  Unfortunately, it never came from a unicorn.  A Dutch physician and naturalist, Ole Wurm, told the world the truth, the alicorn was really the long tusk of the small arctic whale known as the narwhal.  Narwhals are still hunted today for their tusks by certain indigenous populations, but many experts believe that this is not sustainable over the long-term.

White rhinoceros – South Africa

That the rhinoceros might be likened to the legendary unicorn is not so far-fetched, certainly no stranger than ancient sailors believing that hefty, whiskered sea mammals like dugongs and manatees were really mermaids.  Rhinos are distant relatives of horses and the horns of some rhino species can grow quite long.  So, with a dash of imagination and perhaps a pinch of intoxication, a person viewing a rhino could conjure the image of a unicorn in his mind, although that transformation would seem to be a bit easier with several of the antelope species, such as the oryx, that sport spectacular horns, albeit in pairs and from the top of the skull instead of the nose.

Arabian oryx – United Arab Emirates

Like the unicorn’s unusual appendage, the rhino’s horn also was once believed to detect and neutralize poison, and it is still believed by many Asian people to have medicinal properties.  As a result, white and black rhinos in southern Africa are now being killed by poachers at the rate of almost two per day.  If such slaughter continues, decades of dedicated efforts to bring these species back from the brink of extinction will have been for naught.

Unicorns never existed, but rhinos can and must survive as living legends.

If you’d like to know more about what the International Rhino Foundation is doing to combat poaching in southern Africa, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/operation-stop-poaching-now.

Just Browsing!

Sumatran rhino (Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary,Indonesia) – a browser

Rhinos are broadly split into two categories – grazers and browsers – based upon their style of feeding and the types of food they eat.  Grazers prefer grasses and typically feed low to the ground.  Browsers favor leaves, twigs and hanging fruits, which often focuses their attention above eye level.  Grazers might be likened to lawn mowers, heads held low and broad mouths sweeping the ground.  Browsers are more like pruning shears, with narrower, prehensile lips reaching upwards into the trees.

White rhinoceros (Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya) – a grazer

The wide-mouthed white rhino of Africa is the consummate grazer.  Short grasses are its favorite foods.  The greater one-horned or Indian rhino is more difficult to categorize – sometimes a grazer and other times a browser.  It likes tall grasses, but also consumes leaves, branches and submerged aquatic plants.  The black rhino, which may share African grassland or savanna habitats with its white rhino cousin, is a browser that consumes significant roughage, like the thorny branches of acacia or fleshy plants like euphorbia that produce noxious chemicals.

Whistling acacia – Masai Mara, Kenya

Euphorbia – Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Tropical forest species like the Javan and Sumatran rhino are obligate browsers, surrounded by a diverse buffet of leafy plants.  Hundreds of species comprise their diets.  At the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, where the resident rhinos have access to large forest enclosures in which they’re free to browse (the verb), the animals are also given more than two dozen different kinds of browse (the noun) every day.   Their eclectic diet includes wild relatives of species like coffee, rubber, breadfruit and poinsettia.  They also seem to favor the aromatic leaves and bark of species related to common herbs and incenses – basil, mint, rosemary, sage, frankincense and myrrh.  Some Sumatran rhino food plants are known to be excellent sources of vitamin C.  Others produce toxic alkaloids that have been used by traditional hunters to produce arrow poisons.   How they know which ones to choose and how much of each to eat is still to be learned.

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) is a center for managed breeding and research located in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park.  To learn more about how the SRS contributes to the survival of this critically endangered species, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/sumatran-rhino-conservation-program.

“R” is for Rhinos: Home Range

“R” is for Rhino … and also for Home Range.

Whether a rhino lives on the African Serengeti, in the foothills of the Himalayas, or in the dense tropical forests of Java and Sumatra, it inhabits what wildlife ecologists refer to as a home range.  This is the area in which it must find all the food, water, and shelter necessary to survive, as well as locate members of the opposite sex in order to reproduce.  Sometimes the home range of one individual will overlap with those of others.  In other cases, one rhino will defend part or all of its home range from intrusion by other species or members of its own kind.  Biologists refer to this defended area as a territory.

The size of a rhino’s home range varies from species to species, from one habitat type to another, from one season to the next, and even between the two sexes.  Field research results also can be mixed depending upon the study methods used and the way in which the home ranges are actually mapped.  However, it appears that the rhino species with the most compact home range may be the greater one-horned or Indian rhino, which prefers wetland habitats in river valleys.  Studies conducted in Nepal’s Royal Chitwan National Park indicate that the average annual home range of a female is slightly less than four square kilometers (about 1,000 acres) and that of a male slightly more.  Studies also show that Indian rhino ranges expand during periods of drought, when animals have to travel further to find food, and shrink during the monsoon season, when increased rains produce lusher, denser vegetation.

Larger home ranges are more common among the two savanna-dwelling African species – the black rhino and the white rhino – and the two tropical forest-dwelling Asian species – the Sumatran rhino and Javan rhino.  Home ranges of female Sumatran and Javan rhinos usually don’t overlap and may cover between eight to 15 square kilometers.  Male home ranges of these same two species tend to be significantly larger, perhaps 15 to 50 square kilometers, and are much more likely to overlap.  Some of the largest home ranges measured are those of black rhinos inhabiting the vast Serengeti.  In fact, it’s not unusual for an individual to roam an area of more than 100 square kilometers. The abundance of waterholes, wallows and salt-licks factors into home range size as much as food availability.

Rhinos typically mark their territories with urine and dung, as well as by scraping the soil with their hooves and rubbing trees with their horns.  Some concentrate their dung in piles called middens, which serve as natural “street signs,” while others kick it into the air to better disseminate their unique scent and advertise their presence.  Given a rhino’s notoriously poor eyesight, the use of olfactory cues helps avoid aggressive encounters.

“R” is for Rhinos: Radio-telemetry

“R” is for Rhinos, and also for …. Radio-telemetry.

The technology known as radio-telemetry enhances our ability to track and monitor rhinos.  The principles of radio-telemetry are essentially the same as listening to a radio news broadcast.  A small portable transmitter – think of it as a miniature radio station – emits radio waves that travel invisibly through the air, are picked up by an antenna and channeled to a receiver.  However, instead of commentary, music or advertisement, the transmitter emits a series of beeps – or is it bleeps?  Either way, the sound emitted by each transmitter can be set to a different frequency, allowing the listener to tune in to a specific one and determine from which direction the sound has originated.

Wildlife biologists routinely use radio-telemetry equipment to pinpoint the location of animals that are otherwise difficult to find and track.  More often than not, the transmitters are attached to collars that are specially designed not to restrict, hinder or harm but, depending on the target species, sometimes the transmitters can be attached to or imbedded in the animal’s body itself, such as in the dorsal fin of whale or the horn of a rhino.  As they say, “This isn’t rocket science,” but developing technologies should allow field researchers to gather more important information about the animals they study.

Two IRF projects employ radio-telemetry as standard practice – monitoring programs for translocated black rhinos in Zimbabwe’s Lowveld conservancies and for reintroduced greater one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park as part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 initiative. In Zimbabwe, more use is made of transmitters that can be placed inside a small cavity drilled that’s drilled into the rhino’s horn after it has been immobilized. Black rhinos have two relatively large horns, so the size ratio of horn to transmitter favors this strategy.  By comparison, the word “greater” in greater one-horned rhino refers not to the size of the horn, but to the bulk of the beast, and its relatively smaller horn is a less favorable site for a radio transmitter. Consequently, reintroduced rhinos in Assam, India are fitted with special, flexible radio-collars. The science is the same, but there are practical differences to consider.  At the end of the battery’s life on a radio-collared rhino, the animal has to be immobilized a second time to remove the collar, which poses some risk to the rhino. A horn implant, by comparison, simply “grows out’’ of the horn after about three years.

By radio-tracking rhinos that are also individually identifiable by sex, size, scars, ear-notches and ear-tags, wildlife biologists are able to continuously monitor their movements across large areas. For example, black rhinos released in Zimbabwe’s Bubye and Save Valley Conservancies can conceivably roam over more than a million acres.  On the other hand, greater one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park may tend to concentrate their activity close to the park perimeter and perhaps cross over into unprotected territory. In either case, rhino rangers and park guards must monitor their whereabouts to protect them from the threat of poachers.

A new approach to rhino radio-telemetry is currently being tested in southern Africa – attaching transmitters to ankle bracelets. Although these transmitters are relatively large, they add the capacity to relay positions via satellite links. Some wildlife biologists remain wary of their use, due to the risk of lesions to the rhinos’ legs or because the units can be damaged if the rhinos bash them against rocks or trees. Another new approach is RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) transponder technology, which allows smaller devices to be used. This is currently being tested in an International Rhino Foundation project in Zimbabwe, as well as in Namibia.

By experimenting with new ways to track and monitor these impressive creatures, rhino conservationists will gain a better understanding of their ecology and behavior, and hopefully will become more adept at protecting and rebuilding rhino populations.

For more information about Indian Rhino 2020 and the translocation of Greater one-horned rhinos in Assam, please watch the video below.

Looking Back on 2011 – Zimbabwe Reflections

Back in mid 2008, the year in which poachers killed a staggering 16.6% of the black rhino population in the Lowveld conservancies, a black rhino cow called Teressa and her two month old calf Joseph narrowly escaped becoming part of this tragic statistic. An incursion by rhino poachers had been detected in Bubye Valley Conservancy and as part of the follow up Lowveld Rhino Trust rhino monitors checked on all the rhinos in that particular area. Teressa was found unable to stand due to a bullet wound to her right shoulder – she had been shot with a silenced 30 caliber rifle. Not able to get to water or  food sources, Teressa and her calf would have died without urgent assistance. Teressa was immobilized for treatment and then moved with her calf into bomas so she could rest and recover.

Two-month-old black rhino calf 'Joseph' in the boma with his mother 'Teressa' - August 2008

Teressa struggling to move to water in the boma - August 2008.

Unfortunately the combination of being shot , lacking food and water for two days and experiencing the additional stress of the immobilization resulted in Teressa producing less milk than normal and young Joseph became distressed and lost weight as his hunger increased. It took many hours of patient effort  for a handler to coax Joseph to take milk from a bottle inserted through the wall of the pen in which he had been confined with his mother, who was remarkably tolerant of this human intrusion.  The success that was achieved through this human-rhino interaction meant that Joseph could be left with his mother rather than being separated for hand-rearing.  Three weeks later, Teressa was able to walk normally again, her milk production had returned to normal and the pair were released back into the wild together.

Teressa and Joseph were released from the bomas in September 2008.Routine rhino monitoring patrols confirmed that Teressa and Joseph continued to do well after release.

In November, Teressa gave birth to a new calf.

By December 2010, Joseph had grown into a strong sub-adult.

In November 2011, Joseph, now three and a half years old, was found back with his mother and his now-one-year old little sister.

Teressa and Joseph are just two of many rhinos which have escaped death and continued on to help their species fight against extinction. Black rhino cows Sinikwe and Juliet both suffered bullet injuries and lost their calves to poachers in separate attacks in early 2009. Fortunately their bullet wounds were not severe and both females recovered well and have since given birth to new calves. Mazda, another black rhino cow, was shot in the hind leg by poachers in late 2010. Mazda’s made a full recovery and gave birth to her next calf in March 2011.

Sinikwe and her 2011 calf.

Over 30 black rhino births have been recorded in the Lowevld conservancies in 2011. Over the same time period poachers have claimed a known 13 black rhinos in the same areas – a loss of 3.4% of the Lowveld black rhino population.

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who does what they can to help rhinos in their fight against extinction and may we all have a peaceful and productive 2012.

Calf in pool of water.

RHINO Text Giving Campaign

Now, you can text keyword RHINO to 20222 and

donate $5 for African Rhino Conservation.

Supporting wildlife has never been easier! The black rhino is truly a species on the edge. Zoos, conservation organizations, and field researchers have worked together for many years to help fight for its survival. Now the Houston Zoo launched a mobile giving campaign to support the International Rhino Foundation’s work to protect black rhinos in Zimbabwe from poachers and other threats.

All proceeds will come directly to IRF and our partner, the Lowveld Rhino Trust, and will be used for emergency operations to treat rhinos with snare injuries and gunshot wounds, to care for rhino calves orphaned by poaching, to translocate rhinos to areas where they are safer from poachers, and to help authorities apprehend and prosecute wildlife poachers.

A one-time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. You can Text RHINO up to six times in support of this program. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply.  Donations are collected for the benefit of the Houston Zoo by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/tor txt HELP.STOP to cancel.

Text keyword RHINO to 20222 and protect a rhino today!

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How Long Can a Rhino’s Horn Grow?

Fast Facts About Rhinos and Their Horns

By Sectionov, Indonesia Liaison, IRF

The horn on a rhinoceros is very different from that of a sheep or antelope. A rhino’s horn is not attached to the skull. Rhino horn is made of compressed keratin fibers, the same material that is found in fingernails and hair! Some people believe that rhino horn has powerful medicinal uses, ranging from stopping nosebleeds and headaches to curing diphtheria and food poisoning, but there is no scientific evidence that this is true. The use of rhino horn for medical purposes has been illegal since 1993. Trade continues, however, and is driving the illegal poaching of endangered rhinos. Asian rhino horns are more highly prized than African horns; consumers believe that their smaller size means that they are more concentrated, and therefore more potent. One repeated misconception is that rhinoceros horn in powdered form is used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine. It is, in fact, generally prescribed for fevers and convulsions. The horns are also valued as dagger handles in Middle Eastern countries like Yemen, where they are known as “jambiyas.”

To prevent poaching in certain areas, rhinos have been tranquilized and their horns removed. Many rhino range states have stockpiles of rhino horn, which needs to be carefully managed.  

The African and the Asian rhinoceroses have some distinct characteristics. Morphologically, one obvious difference is that both African varieties have two horns in tandem, while the Sumatran rhino has two horns, but one typically is a stub, and the other two Asian types, Greater one-horned and Javan rhinos, have a single horn. Behaviorally, it has been found that African rhinos are more aggressive than Asian rhinos. African rhinos fight with their horns, using them to impale and throw their adversaries, while the Asian rhino fights with its bottom teeth, using them in a slashing motion. Their feeding habits vary as well. African rhinos feed low to the ground, whereas the Asian rhino browses on leaves that are higher.

The White Rhino has an immense body and large head, with a short neck and broad chest. This rhino can exceed 3,500 kg (7,700 lb), has a head-and-body length of 3.5–4.6 m (11–15 ft) and a shoulder height of 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft) The largest White Rhinoceros on record was about 4,600 kg (10,000 lb). On its snout it has two horns. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). The White Rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey.

An adult Black Rhinoceros stands 150–175 cm (59–69 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.5–3.9 m (11–13 ft) in length. An adult weighs from 850 to 1,600 kg (1,900 to 3,500 lb), with particularly large rhinos weighing up to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb), and the females are smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long (20 inches), but sometimes up to 140 cm (55 inches). Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The Black Rhino is much smaller than the white rhino, and has a pointed mouth, which it uses to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding.

The Greater One-Horned (or Indian) Rhinoceros 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. Fully-grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500–3,200 kg (5,500–7,100 lb). The Indian rhino stands at 1.75-2.0 meters (5.75-6.5 ft). Female Indian rhinos weigh about 1,900 kg (4,200 lb). The Indian Rhino is from 3–4 metres (10 – 14 feet) long. The record-sized specimen of this rhino was approximately 3,800 kg (8,377 lb). The Indian Rhino has a single horn that reaches a length of between 20 and 100 cm (8 – 39 inches). Its size is comparable to that of the White Rhino in Africa.

The Javan rhino‘s body length reaches up to 3.2 m (10 ft), including its head, and is 1.5–1.7 m (4 ft 10 in–5 ft 7 in) tall. Adults are variously reported to weigh between 900–2,000 kg (2,000 – 4,400 lbs). Male horns can reach 26 cm (10 inches) in length while in females they are knobs or are not present at all.

Typically a mature Sumatran rhino stands about 130 cm (51 in) high at the shoulder, with a body length of 240–315 cm (94–124 in), and weighs around 700 kg (1,500 lb), though the largest individuals have been known to weigh as much as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Like the African species, it has two horns; the largest is the front (25–79 cm or 10 – 31 inches) and the smaller is second, and is usually less than 10 cm (4 inches) long. The males have much larger horns than the females. Hair can range from dense (the most dense hair is in young calves) to scarce. The color of these rhinos is reddish brown. The body is short and has stubby legs. They also have a prehensile lip. 

World Record Rhino Horns

According to a study by Dr. Nico van Strien in 2006, the longest rhino horn ever recorded was a 150 cm (59 inch) white rhino horn. This means the rhino’s horn alone was longer that the average adult pig! This horn was found before 1900 in South Africa and it was owned by Sir William Gordons Cummings, but according to the most recent information, the horn was stolen and its whereabouts are unknown.

The longest black rhino horn on record was 130 cm (51 inches) long; it was found in Kenya in 1928. The world record rhino horn for the Greater one-horned rhino is 57 cm (23 inches), and was found in Assam in 1909, and the world record Sumatran rhino horn is 60 cm (23 inches). Both of these horns are currently housed at the British Museum, which also has several Javan rhino horns.

World Record Rhino Horns by Dr. Nico Van Strien