| Welcome to Carnivora. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Indian Rhinoceros - Rhinoceros unicornis | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 03:39 PM (3,429 Views) | |
| Taipan | Jan 7 2012, 03:39 PM Post #1 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Indian (Great One-horned Rhinoceros) - Rhinoceros unicornis![]() Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Perissodactyla Family: Rhinocerotidae Genus: Rhinoceros Species: Rhinoceros unicornis The greater one-horned rhino is one of the two greatest success stories in rhino conservation (the other one being the southern white rhino in South Africa). With strict protection from Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities, greater one-horned rhino numbers have recovered from fewer than 200 earlier in the 20th century to around 2,500. However, poaching pressure has remained high and this recovery is precarious without increased and accelerated support for conservation efforts in India and Nepal. Current Greater One-horned Rhino Numbers and Distribution There currently are approximately 2,619 greater one-horned rhinos surviving. Biology The greater one-horned rhino lives in northern India and southern Nepal. In both areas, the species mainly inhabits riverine (flood plain) grasslands and occasionally utilizes some adjacent woodland. ![]() Greater one-horned rhinos are grazers, although occasionally they consume browse. When not grazing on land, animals like to immerse themselves in water, where they also graze on aquatic grass-like plants. This species is the most amphibious of the living rhinos. Gestation lasts approximately 15-16 months, and mothers give birth to one calf every 1-3 years. Females reach sexual maturity between 5 and 7 years of age; males mature at approximately 10 years of age. Greater one-horned rhinos are usually solitary except for females with young. Males maintain loosely-defended territories. ![]() Physical Characteristics Size Weight: 4,000-6,000 lbs (1,800 - 2,700 kg) Height: 5.75 - 6.5 feet (1.75 - 2.0 m) tall at shoulder Length: 10- 12.5 feet (3.0-3.8m) length of head and body Horn: As the name suggests, greater one-horned rhinos have a single horn 8 to 24 inches (20 to 61 cm) long. Other Features Brownish-gray, hairless, with folds of skin that resemble plates of armor with rivets. The upper lip is semi-prehensile, well-adapted to grasping branches and leaves.
|
![]() |
|
| Taipan | Jan 10 2012, 10:24 PM Post #2 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
[quote221extra]Here is an account of a great horned rhino killing a elephant. The following note on the Great Indian rhinoceros appeared in the United Services Journal, November, 1849. Though it bears out Mr. Shebbeare's opinion, given in the last Oryx, that in general this rhinoceros uses his 'tushes' not his horn in attack, it does also suggest that the horn may sometimes be of use as a secondary weapon. The writer is identified only as ' T. S. ' It appears that he was some twenty years in India and was assistant resident in Nepal under Brian Hodgson, when that distinguished naturalist was resident there. Commissioned to kill a rogue elephant, ' T. S. ' also killed many deer, eleven tigers and seven rhinoceroses ' evidently fauna needed, or at least received, little preservation in those days. It was the seventh of these rhinoceroses which assaulted the elephant of T.S.'s companion, Sirdar Delhi Sing. On being charged, 'the elephant immediately turned tail and bolted, but the rhinoceros was too quick for him, came up to the elephant in a few strides and with his tusks cut the fugitive so severely on the stern, nearly severing his tail, that he attempted to lie down under the pain. But the rhinoceros was again too quick for him, and bringing his horn into play (my italics), he introduced it under the elephant's flank; the horn tightened the skin and then with his two frightful tusks he cut the poor animal so severely that his entrails came rolling about his legs as he fell, undergoing the dreadful assaults of his antagonist.' At this point ' T. S. ' shot the rhinoceros; he would then have shot the wounded elephant also, but its mahout dissuaded him, and the animal died in two hours. Glover, R., 1956. Weapons of the Great Indian rhinoceros. Oryx 3 (4): 197 I got it from http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=sub_notes&&subject1=9&subject2=34[/color][/quote] |
![]() |
|
| Taipan | Jan 10 2012, 10:24 PM Post #3 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Rare Nepal rhinos mysteriously disappear January 4, 2007 - 7:14AM Dozens of endangered Great One-horned rhinoceros have mysteriously disappeared from a nature reserve in south-west Nepal over the past few years, a wildlife official said. Authorities introduced 72 rhinos, also known as the Indian rhinoceros, in the Babai Valley, 320 km south-west of Kathmandu, as part of a conservation drive that started in 1984. "We have records showing 23 rhinos had died due to poaching or other causes. The rest are missing," Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, a senior official at the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, said. But he ruled out the possibility of all the 49 missing rhinos falling prey to poachers. "If poachers had killed them they should have left behind the bodies" after taking away the horn, he said, adding that just one rhino skeleton had been found during an extensive search in June. "Where did they go? I have no answer. It is a mystery," Manandhar said. The rhinos were moved to Babai Valley from Chitwan National Park on Nepal's southern plains under a conservation scheme supported by global conservation group WWF. In December, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government to step up security at Chitwan - the Himalayan nation's biggest rhino reserve - after local media reported at least 10 animals had been killed since July. Officials say at least 12 rhinos had died in the past six months in Chitwan where their population dropped to 372 in 2005 from 544 in 2000. Their numbers fell mainly due to poaching for horns which are believed to have aphrodisiac qualities and are in great demand in China. In the Babai Valley, rhinos were last seen seven years ago when several security posts were closed due to threats from the Maoist rebels who targeted them during their decade-long insurgency against Nepal's monarchy. The Maoists declared a ceasefire in April and signed a peace deal with the government in November, allowing easier and safer movement of forestry officials. Nepal began its rhino conservation drive 30 years ago when the population fell to 108 animals from around 800 in 1950. One-horned rhinos are also found in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. The one-horned species of the rhinoceros has been one of the greatest conservation success stories in South Asia. With strict protection, especially in India, their total numbers have risen to around 2,500 from 100 about a century ago. © 2007 Reuters, Click for Restrictions http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Rare-Nepal-rhinos-mysteriously-disappear/2007/01/04/1167777183361.html |
![]() |
|
| Taipan | Jan 10 2012, 10:25 PM Post #4 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Trouble for rhino from poacher and Bengal tiger PULLOCK DUTTA Guwahati, March 12: The rhino is being hounded by predators, and not only of the two-legged kind. Royal Bengal tigers, which usually prey on baby rhinos, have begun killing adult ones in Kaziranga National Park since the last fortnight. Alarmed by this development, a team of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, will arrive at the national park tomorrow on a weeklong visit to survey the “phenomenon”. Authorities at Kaziranga National Park have also informed the chief conservator of forests of the new trend. Tigers killed 20 rhinos at Kaziranga last year, while this year eight rhinos have fallen prey to the big cats. “The worrying part is that tigers have started killing full grown rhinos. Earlier it was only the calves the tigers used to attack but now the full grown rhinos are being targeted,” said Bankim Sharma, the divisional forest official of the park. Last evening, three tigers, probably a mother and her two grown calves, attacked an adult rhino near the East Haldhibari anti-poaching camp in the Kohora range of the park. “It must have taken several hours for the tigers to nail the rhino. The entire area looked like a war zone with crushed grass and plants. The rhino had probably given up when it got stuck in the mud in a nearby water body,” the forest official said. Forest officials later retrieved the rhino’s horn. On February 26, a pregnant rhino was killed by tigers at Rutikhowa beel under Bagori range. Gunin Saikia, another forest at Kaziranga, said there have been no instances of tigers attacking full grown rhinos till now. Saikia said female rhinos generally venture out of the park along with their calves at night to escape from tiger attacks, since rhino calves are easy prey for tigers. “But tigers always keep away from full grown rhinos,” he said. The divisional forest official said male rhinos usually stay alone and tigers are finding it easier to prey on them than buffaloes, which stay in large groups. There has been an increase in tiger population in the park, which could be another reason for the attacks on rhinos, he said. According to the last census conducted in 2000, 86 rhinos were found in Kaziranga. “There is no doubt that the figure has gone up since then,” the divisional forest official said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080313/jsp/northeast/story_9012303.jsp |
![]() |
|
| Taipan | Jan 10 2012, 10:25 PM Post #5 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
|
![]() |
|
| Taipan | Jan 10 2012, 10:26 PM Post #6 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Rare One-Horned Rhino Bouncing Back in Nepal Paroma Basu in New Delhi, India for National Geographic News March 27, 2008 Numbers of the rare Indian rhinoceros are nosing upward in Nepal, a nationwide government census has found. Recently field observers counted 408 rhinos over two weeks in Royal Chitwan National Park, one of the last remaining strongholds for the endangered animals. Preliminary numbers from the census suggest an increase from 2005, when observers reported seeing only 372 rhinos in the park. Rhino numbers in other parts of the country have remained stable, with preliminary counts suggesting there are 31 rhinos in Royal Bardia National Park and 6 in the Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, both in western Nepal. A healthier sex ratio as well as gradual improvements in habitat management have helped boost rhino numbers, said Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, chief conservation and education officer at Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Officials say the rhino rebound is also due to new anti-poaching measures implemented in the aftermath of the country's decade-long Maoist insurgency. Jungle patrols had ground to a halt during Nepal's civil war, in which Maoists occupied the forests and poaching activities went on unchecked. "Since the end of the conflict period [in 2006], we have increased the number of guard posts in Chitwan to 34," Manandhar said. "We are similarly constructing new guard posts in Bardia and Suklaphanta. Those who are now patrolling the forests include army people, civil servants, and members of the public." Ramping Up The Indian rhino, also known as the great one-horned rhinoceros, once roamed through large parts of South Asia. Its horn is reputed to have aphrodisiac properties and can be worth thousands of dollars in China's traditional-medicine market. Decades of poaching and habitat destruction brought the species to the brink of extinction in the 1900s. Today fewer than 2,000 rhinos live in fragmented pockets of Nepal and northeastern India. Last January wildlife officials announced that more than four dozen rhinos appeared to have gone missing in Nepal over the course of a few years, most likely due to unchecked poaching. Royal Chitwan National Park saw its rhino numbers fall from 544 in 2000 to 372 in 2005. A recent spate of rhino killings prompted Nepal's government and conservation authorities in February to ramp up anti-poaching measures and launch the latest census. About 200 wildlife biologists, technicians, forest rangers, and field observers took part in the survey, which was a joint effort among Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, WWF-Nepal, and the National Trust for Nature Conservation. The team also included 40 elephants that ferried members through remote forest areas, said WWF-Nepal spokesperson Anil Manandhar, who is unrelated to the national parks division's Laxmi Prasad Manandhar. The census used global positioning systems for the first time, and observers carried digital cameras to photograph every rhino seen, WWF's Manandhar said. Full results of the census are expected in the next two weeks. "The final numbers will give us a clearer picture as to whether poaching is reducing in other parts of the country as well, and not just in Chitwan," he said. ![]() http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080327-nepal-rhinoceros.html |
![]() |
|
| blaze | Jan 8 2013, 10:08 AM Post #7 |
|
Carnivore
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I've finally found it! A study with measurements and mentions of mass from wild individuals. Dinerstein, E., 1991. Sexual dimorphism in the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). Journal of Mammalogy 72 (3): 450-457 PDF is available here but this is the relevant info. ![]() According to the author, 2000kg is the close to maximum weight attained by wild indian rhino bulls though he doesn't specify which specific bull he was referring to, one can assume that he was talking about the largest bull he measured, at 1.86m tall and 3.64m in head-body length. To contrast with captive animals at this height, there are recorded weights of up to 2700kg. Largest Indian rhino bull in Dinerstein (1991a) It seems adult head-body length goes at least from 3.1m to 3.6m in both sexes. Dinersten also didn't made any mention of the supposed 3.6 tonnes record, that weight, again has no reference... is it mentioned in Wood (1983)? is there any story related to it? It's still a mystery, I know that, in most cases, record weights are around twice the average but it seems kind of unlikely given how, at least in the wild, even old males, at some 1.7m tall on average wouldn't weight much more 1.5 tonnes. Edited by blaze, Jan 8 2013, 10:10 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| Godzillasaurus | Jan 8 2013, 10:26 AM Post #8 |
|
Reptile King
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
How big was the elephant? It seems unlikely that it could have killed a large adult. |
![]() |
|
| blaze | Jan 9 2013, 02:12 PM Post #9 |
|
Carnivore
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Contrary to popular belief, large adult bull Asian elephants top at 2.7m most of the time and I really doubt bulls that large are used for transportation, I guess the elephant in that story had to be between 2-2.3m tall. (an Asian elephant 2.3m tall would weight a little more than 2 tonnes)
Edited by blaze, Jan 9 2013, 02:22 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Mammalia · Next Topic » |














![]](http://b2.ifrm.com/28122/87/0/p701956/pipright.png)
.jpg?psid=1)

5:03 AM Jul 12