Indian rhinoceros: Difference between revisions

{{About|the greater one-horned rhinoceros, also known as the great Indian rhinoceros|the lesser one-horned rhinoceros, which has an extinct subspecies known as the lesser Indian rhinoceros|Javan rhinoceros}}

| image = Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) 4.jpg

| image_caption = An Indian rhinoceros in [[Nepal]]

| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Rhinoceros unicornis'' |name-list-style=amp |author=Ellis, S. |author2=Talukdar, B. |date=2019 |page=e.T19496A18494149 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T19496A18494149.en |access-date=16 January 2022}}}</ref>

The '''Indian rhinoceros''' (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), also called the '''Indian rhino''', '''greater one-horned rhinoceros''' or '''great Indian rhinoceros''', is a [[rhinoceros]] [[species]] native to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It is listed as [[vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]], as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than {{convert|20000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat, the [[alluvial]] [[Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands]] and [[riverine forest]], is considered to be in decline due to human and livestock encroachment. As of August 2018, the global population was estimated to comprise 3,588 individuals, including 2,939 individuals in [[India]] and 649 in [[Nepal]].<ref name=iucn/> [[Kaziranga National Park]] alone had an estimated population of 2,048 rhinos in 2009.<ref name=kazir1/> [[Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary]] in [[Assam]] has the highest density of Indian rhinos in the world with 84 individuals in an area of {{convert|38.80|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} in 2009.<ref name="sarma2009"/>

Nearly 85% of the global Indian rhinoceros population is concentrated in Assam, where Kaziranga National Park contains 70% of rhino population.

[[Fossils]] of ''R. unicornis'' appear in the [[Middle Pleistocene]]. In the [[Pleistocene]], the [[Genus (biology)|genus]] ''Rhinoceros'' ranged throughout [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]], with specimens located on [[Sri Lanka]]. Into the [[Holocene]], some rhinoceros lived as far west as [[Gujarat]] and [[Pakistan]] until as recently as 3,200 years ago.<ref name=Laurie1983/>

The Indian and [[Javan rhinoceros]]es, the only members of the genus ''[[Rhinoceros (genus)|Rhinoceros]]'', first appear in the fossil record in Asia during the Early Pleistocene. The Indian rhinoceros is known from Early Pleistocene localities in Java, South China, India and Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antoine |first=P.-O. |date=2012|title=Pleistocene and Holocene rhinocerotids (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Indochinese Peninsula|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=11 |issue=2–3 |pages=159–168 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.002}}</ref> Molecular estimates suggest the species may have diverged much earlier, around {{mya|11.7}}.<ref name=DNA>{{Cite journal |title=The Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequence of the Greater Indian Rhinoceros, ''Rhinoceros unicornis'', and the Phylogenetic Relationship Among Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea) |author=Xu, X. |author2=Janke, A. |author3=Arnason, U. |name-list-style=amp | journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=1167–1173 |year=1996 |pmid=8896369 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025681 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name = Tougard>{{Cite journal | author = Tougard, C. |author2=Delefosse, T. |author3=Hoenni, C. |author4=Montgelard, C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Phylogenetic relationships of the five extant rhinoceros species (Rhinocerotidae, Perissodactyla) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12s rRNA genes |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=34–44 |doi=10.1006/mpev.2000.0903 |pmid=11286489}}</ref> Although belonging to the [[type genus]], the Indian and Javan rhinoceroses are not believed to be closely related to other rhino species. Different studies have hypothesised that they may be closely related to the extinct ''Gaindatherium'' or ''Punjabitherium''. A detailed [[clade|cladistic]] analysis of the Rhinocerotidae placed ''Rhinoceros'' and the extinct ''Punjabitherium'' in a clade with ''[[Dicerorhinus]]'', the [[Sumatran rhinoceros]]. Other studies have suggested the Sumatran rhinoceros is more closely related to the two African species.<ref name=Cerdeno>{{Cite journal | last = Cerdeño | first = E. | url = http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3566/1/N3143.pdf | journal = Novitates | publisher = [[American Museum of Natural History]] | year = 1995 | title = Cladistic Analysis of the Family Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla) | issn = 0003-0082 | pages = 1–25 | issue = 3143}}</ref> The Sumatran rhino may have diverged from the other Asian rhinos as long as 15 million years ago.<ref name=Lacombat/><ref name="dinerstein03"/>

Indian rhinos have a thick grey-brown skin with pinkish skin folds and one [[horn (anatomy)|horn]] on their snout. Their upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. They have very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush. Bulls have huge neck folds. The [[skull]] is heavy with a basal length above {{convert|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} and an [[occiput]] above {{convert|19|cm|in|abbr=on}}. The nasal horn is slightly back-curved with a base of about {{convert|18.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} by {{convert|12|cm|in|abbr=on}} that rapidly narrows until a smooth, even stem part begins about {{convert|55|mm|in|abbr=on}} above base. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob.<ref name=Laurie1983>{{Cite journal |author = Laurie, W. A. |author2=Lang, E. M. |author3=Groves, C. P. |year = 1983 |title = ''Rhinoceros unicornis'' |journal = [[Mammalian Species]] |issue = 211 |pages = 1–6 |url = http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-211-01-0001.pdf |doi = 10.2307/3504002 |jstor = 3504002 |publisher = American Society of Mammalogists|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629025307/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-211-01-0001.pdf |archive-date=2017-06-29 }}</ref>

The Indian rhino's single horn is present in both bulls and cows, but not on newborn calves. The horn is pure [[keratin]], like human fingernails, and starts to show after about six years. In most adults, the horn reaches a length of about {{convert|25|cm|in|abbr=on}}, but has been recorded up to {{convert|36|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|3.051|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight.<ref name="dinerstein03">{{Cite book |title=The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros |author=Dinerstein, E. |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |location=New York |year=2003 |isbn=0-231-08450-1}}</ref>

Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, Indian rhinos are second in size only to the [[Asian elephant]]. They are also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the [[white rhinoceros]]. Bulls have a head and body length of {{convert|368|-|380|cm|ft|abbr=on}} with a shoulder height of {{convert|170|-|186|cm|ft|abbr=on}}, while cows have a head and body length of {{convert|310|-|340|cm|ft|abbr=on}} and a shoulder height of {{convert|148|-|173|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. The bull, averaging about {{convert|2200|kg|lb|-1|abbr=on}} is heavier than the cow, at an average of about {{convert|1600|kg|lb|-1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Macdonald, D. 2001">{{Cite book |author=Macdonald, D. |year=2001 |title=The New Encyclopedia of Mammals |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0198508239}}</ref>

The largest individuals reportedly weighed up to {{convert|4000|kg|lb|-1|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |author=Boitani, L. |year=1984 |title=Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals |publisher=Simon & Schuster, Touchstone Books |isbn=978-0-671-42805-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/simonschustersgu00boit |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Indian rhinos once ranged across the entire northern part of the [[Indian subcontinent|Indian Subcontinent]], along the [[Indus River|Indus]], [[Ganges Plain|Ganges]] and [[Brahmaputra River]] basins, from [[Pakistan]] to the Indian-[[Myanmar]] border, including [[Bangladesh]] and the southern parts of [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]]. They may have also occurred in Myanmar, southern China and [[Indochina]]. They inhabit the [[alluvial]] [[Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands|grasslands of the Terai]] and the Brahmaputra basin.<ref name="foose1997" /> As a result of habitat destruction and climatic changes its range has gradually been reduced so that by the 19th century, it only survived in the [[Terai]] grasslands of southern [[Nepal]], northern [[Uttar Pradesh]], northern [[Bihar]], northern [[West Bengal]], and in the [[Brahmaputra Valley]] of [[Assam]].<ref name="choudhury1985">{{cite journal |author=Choudhury, A. U. |year=1985 |url=http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1165235391 |title=Distribution of Indian one-horned rhinoceros |journal=Tiger Paper |volume=12|issue=2 |pages=25–30}}</ref>

By 2014, the population in Assam increased to 2,544 Indian rhinos, an increase of 27% since 2006, although more than 150 individuals were killed by poachers during these years.<ref name=rhinas1>{{cite news |author=Hance, J. |date=2014 |url=http://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/despite-poaching-indian-rhino-population-jumps-by-27-percent-in-eight-years/ |title=Despite poaching, Indian rhino population jumps by 27 percent in eight years |website=Mongabay}}</ref>

The population in Kaziranga National Park was estimated at 2,048 individuals in 2009.<ref name=kazir1>{{cite book |author1=Medhi, A.|name-list-style=amp |author2=Saha, A. K.|date=2014 |chapter=Land Cover Change and Rhino Habitat Mapping of Kaziranga National Park, Assam |pages=125–138 |editor=Singh, M. |editor2=Singh, R. B. |editor3=Hassan, M. I. |title=Climate Change and Biodiversity. Proceedings of IGU Rohtak Conference |volume=1, Part II |publisher=Springer Japan}}</ref> By 2009, the population in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary had increased to 84 individuals in an area of {{convert|38.80|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="sarma2009">{{cite journal |author1=Sarma, P. K. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Talukdar, B. K. |author3=Sarma, K. |author4=Barua, M. |year=2009 |title=Assessment of habitat change and threats to the greater one-horned rhino (''Rhinoceros unicornis'') in Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, using multi-temporal satellite data |journal=Pachyderm |volume=46 |issue=July–December |pages=18–24 |url=http://www.pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachy/article/viewArticle/135}}</ref>

In 2015, Nepal had 645 Indian rhinos living in [[Parsa National Park]], [[Chitwan National Park]], [[Bardia National Park]], [[Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve]] and respective buffer zones in the [[Terai Arc Landscape]] as recorded in a survey conducted from 11 April to 2 May 2015. The survey showed that the population of rhinos in Nepal from 2011 to 2015 increased 21% or 111 individuals.<ref name=neprin1>WWF Nepal (2015). [http://www.wwfnepal.org/?246012/Nepal-achieves-21-increase-in-rhino-numbers Nepal achieves 21% increase in rhino numbers].</ref>

The Indian rhino population, which once numbered as low as 100 individuals in the early 1900s, has increased to more than 3,700 in year 2021 as per The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) signature 2021 report, State of the Rhino.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-29|title=State of the Rhino|url=https://rhinos.org/about-rhinos/state-of-the-rhino/|access-date=2021-09-20|website=International Rhino Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:One horned Rhino.jpg|thumb|Indian rhinoceros at [[Bardia National Park]]]]

[[File:Indian One Horned Rhino.jpg|thumb|Indian rhinoceros in [[Manas National Park]]]]

 

Bulls are usually solitary. Groups consist of cows with calves, or of up to six subadults. Such groups congregate at wallows and grazing areas. They are foremost active in early mornings, late afternoons and at night, but rest during hot days.<ref name=Laurie1983/>

They are excellent swimmers and can run at speeds of up to {{convert|55|km/h|abbr=on}} for short periods.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but relatively poor eyesight.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Over 10 distinct [[Animal communication|vocalisations]] have been recorded.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Males have home ranges of around {{convert|2|to|8|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} that overlap each other. Dominant males tolerate other males passing through their territories except when they are in mating season, when dangerous fights break out.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

Indian rhinos have few natural enemies, except for [[tiger]]s, which sometimes kill unguarded calves, but adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their size. [[Mynah]]s and [[egret]]s both eat invertebrates from the rhino's skin and around its feet. ''Tabanus'' flies, a type of [[horse-fly]], are known to bite rhinos. The rhinos are also vulnerable to diseases spread by parasites such as [[leech]]es, [[tick]]s, and [[nematode]]s. [[Anthrax]] and the blood-disease [[sepsis]] are known to occur.<ref name=Laurie1983/>

In March 2017, a group of four tigers consisting of an adult male, tigress and two cubs killed a 20-year-old male Indian rhinoceros in [[Dudhwa Tiger Reserve]].<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/tigers-kill-rhino-in-dudhwa-tiger-reserve/372612.html Tigers kill rhino in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve]. ''Tribune India'' (4 March 2017)</ref>

Indian rhinos are [[Grazing|grazers]]. Their diet consists almost entirely of grasses, but they also eat leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruits, and submerged and floating [[aquatic plant]]s.  

Indian rhinos form a variety of social groupings. Bulls are generally solitary, except for mating and fighting. Cows 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 bulls and cows form consistent groupings, as well. Groups of two or three young bulls will often form on the edge of the home ranges of dominant bulls, presumably for protection in numbers. Young cows are slightly less social than the bulls. 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.<ref name="dinerstein03"/>

 

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. Indian rhinos will playfully spar, run around, and play with twigs in their mouths. Adult bulls are the primary instigators in fights. Fights between dominant bulls are the most common cause of rhino mortality, and bulls are also very aggressive toward cows during courtship. Bulls will chase cows over long distances and even attack them face-to-face. Unlike African rhinos, Indian rhinos fight with their incisors, rather than their horn.<ref name="dinerstein03"/>

 

 

In 1950, in Nepal the [[Chitwan Valley|Chitwan]]’s forest and grasslands extended over more than {{convert|2600|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and were home to about 800 rhinos. When poor farmers from the mid-hills moved to the Chitwan Valley in search of arable land, the area was subsequently opened for settlement, and [[poaching]] of wildlife became rampant. The Chitwan population has repeatedly been jeopardised by poaching; in 2002 alone, poachers killed 37 animals to saw off and sell their valuable horns.<ref name="adhikari">{{cite journal |author=Adhikari, T. R. |date=2002 |title=The curse of success |journal=Habitat Himalaya |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=1–4 |url=http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=pdfviewer&id=1175855985&folder=117}}</ref>

In early 1980s, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam had more than 70 [[Indian rhino]]s which were all killed by poachers. In 2016, two Indian rhinos, a mother and her daughter, were reintroduced to the sanctuary from Kaziranga National Park as part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020) program, but both animals died within months due to natural causes.<ref name=reintr1>[https://india.mongabay.com/2019/09/who-killed-the-wandering-rhino-in-assam/ Who killed the wandering rhino in Assam?], mongabay.com, 9 September 2019.</ref>

Indian rhinos were initially difficult to breed in captivity. In the second half of the 20th century, zoos became adept at breeding Indian rhinoceros. By 1983, nearly 40 babies had been born in captivity.<ref name=Laurie1983/> As of 2012, 33 Indian rhinos were born at [[Switzerland]]'s [[History of Zoo Basel|Zoo Basel]] alone,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://zoobasel.ch/de/aktuell/detail.php?NEWSID=563&apm=1_4&nof|title=Es ist ein Junge! |website=Zoo Basel |access-date=2013-02-25|language=de}}</ref> meaning that most captive animals are related to the [[Basel]] population. Due to the success of [[Breeding programs at Zoo Basel|Zoo Basel's breeding program]], the International [[Breed registry|Studbook]] for the species has been kept there since 1972. Since 1990, the Indian rhino [[European Endangered Species Programme]] is also being coordinated there, with the goal of maintaining genetic diversity in the global captive Indian rhinoceros population.<ref name="basel">{{cite web |url=http://www.zoobasel.ch/aktuell/detail.php?NEWSID=378 |title=Panzernashorngeburt im Zoo Basel |website=Zoo Basel |date=2010}}</ref>

In June 2014, the first "successful" live-birth from an artificially inseminated rhino took place at the [[Buffalo Zoo]] in New York. As in Cincinnati, cryopreserved sperm was used to produce the female calf, Monica.<ref name="Miller">{{cite news |author=Miller, M. |date=2014 |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/buffalo/baby-rhinoceros-makes-her-public-debut-at-buffalo-zoo-20140707 |title=Baby Rhinoceros Makes Her Public Debut at Buffalo Zoo |newspaper=The Buffalo News}}</ref>

[[File:Dürer's Rhinoceros, 1515.jpg|thumb|''Dürer's Rhinoceros'']]

In the 3rd century, [[Philip the Arab]] exhibited an Indian rhinoceros in [[Rome]].<ref name=Rookmaaker1973/> In 1515, [[Manuel I of Portugal]] obtained an Indian rhinoceros as a gift, which he passed on to [[Pope Leo X]], but which died on the way from [[Lisbon]] to Rome. Three artistic representations were prepared of this rhinoceros: ''[[Dürer's Rhinoceros]]'', a [[woodcut]] by [[Hans Burgkmair]] dated to 1515, a drawing and a woodcut by [[Albrecht Dürer]], also dated 1515.<ref name=Rookmaaker1973/> Dürer's Rhinoceros was sent as a present from the King of Portugal, [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]], to [[Pope Leo X]] in 1515, and this rhino died in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy in early 1516, and it was immortalised as ''Dürer's Rhinoceros'' in the woodcut. In 1577–1588, [[Abada (rhinoceros)|Abada]] was a female Indian rhinoceros kept by the Portuguese kings [[Sebastian of Portugal|Sebastian I]] and [[Henry, King of Portugal|Henry I]] from 1577 to 1580 and by [[Philip II of Spain]] from about 1580 to 1588. She was the first rhinoceros seen in Europe after ''Dürer's Rhinoceros''. In about 1684, the first presumably Indian rhinoceros arrived in England.<ref name=Rookmaaker1973>{{cite journal |author=Rookmaaker, L. C. |year=1973 |title=Captive rhinoceroses in Europe from 1500 until 1810 |journal=Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=39–63 |doi=10.1163/26660644-04301002 |url=https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/btd/43/1/article-p39_2.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys]] spread the rumour that his chief rival [[Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford]] had been seen riding on it.<ref>{{cite book |author=Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge |title=The Penny Cyclopaedia |date=1841 |publisher=Charles Knight & Co. |location=London |volume=19 |chapter=Rhinoceros |pages=463–475 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQBfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP471}}</ref>

In 1741–1758, ''[[Clara (rhinoceros)|Clara the rhinoceros]]'' (c. 1738 – 14 April 1758) was a female Indian rhinoceros who became famous during 17 years of [[Grand Tour|touring Europe]] in the mid-18th century. She arrived in [[Europe]] in [[Rotterdam]] in 1741, becoming the fifth living rhinoceros to be seen in Europe in modern times since [[Dürer's Rhinoceros]] in 1515. After tours through towns in the [[Dutch Republic]], the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Switzerland]], the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[France]], the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]], the [[Papal States]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and [[Denmark]], she died in [[Lambeth]], England. In 1739, she was drawn and engraved by two English artists. It was then brought to Amsterdam, where [[Jan Wandelaar]] made two [[engraving]]s that were published in 1747. In the subsequent years, the rhinoceros was exhibited in several European cities. In 1748, [[Johann Elias Ridinger]] made an [[etching]] of it in [[Augsburg]], and [[Petrus Camper]] modelled it in [[clay]] in [[Leiden]]. In 1749, [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]] drew it in Paris. In 1751, [[Pietro Longhi]] painted it in [[Venice]].<ref name=Rookmaaker1973/>

* {{cite news |date=2018 |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43606882 |title=Rhino census in India's Kaziranga park counts 12 more}}

* {{cite web |title=Indian Rhinoceros |website=Arkive |url=http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Rhinoceros_unicornis/more_info.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217230855/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Rhinoceros_unicornis/more_info.html |archive-date=2007-12-17 }}