Greater one-horned rhinoceros

Physical description 

The greater one-horned (or Indian) rhinoceros is the largest of the three Asian rhinos – and, together with African white rhinos, the largest of all rhino species.

It has a single black horn about 20-60 cm long and a grey-brown hide with skin folds, which give it an armour-plated appearance. The upper lip is semi-prehensile.

Weight:  1,800-2,700 kg

Colour: Gray brown, pinkish at the skin folds

Wandering in loosely defined territories

Social structure  
Greater one-horned rhinos are solitary, except when sub-adults or adult males gather at wallows or to graze. Males have loosely defined territories which are not well defended, and often overlap.

Life cycle
Females are sexually mature at 5-7 years old, while males mature at about 10 years of age. Breeding occurs throughout the year. The single offspring remains with the mother until the birth of her next calf, and there is an interval of about 1 to 3 years between calves. The gestation period is 15-16 months.

Diet
The greater one-horned rhino is a primarily a grazer. Its diet consists almost entirely of grasses, but it also eats leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruit and aquatic plants.

Population & distribution

Previous population & distribution
The greater one-horned rhino once ranged the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain – northern Pakistan, much of northern India (including Assam), Nepal, northern Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It occurred mainly in alluvial plain grasslands, where the grass grew up to 8m tall. It was also found in adjacent swamps and forests.

The species came very close to extinction in the early 20th century. Only 600 individuals survived in the wild in 1975, in India and Nepal.

Current population & distribution
By 2011, conservation efforts saw the population grow to 2,913 in the Terai Arc Landscape of India and Nepal and the grasslands of Assam and north Bengal, northeast India. It is now often found in cultivated areas and pastures, as well as modified woodlands. 

Greater one-horned rhinos are now the most numerous of the three Asian rhino species.

With at least half of the total population, India's Kaziranga National Park remains the key reserve for this species. Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal, currently holds about 500 individuals. Strict protection has allowed the rhino population to increase, currently at a rate of approximately 5% per year.

What are the main threats?

Hunting
Hunting was an important factor in the greater one-horned rhino's historical decline. During the last century, rhinos were hunted for sport by both Europeans and Asians. Rhinos were also killed as agricultural pests in tea plantations.

By the early 1900s, the population was so far reduced that rhino hunting was prohibited in Assam, Bengal and Myanmar.

Poaching
Poaching of greater one-horned rhinos for their horns remains a continuous threat. 

Although there is no scientific proof of its medical value, the horn is used in traditional Asian medicines, primarily for the treatment of a variety of ailments ranging from epilepsy, fevers, and strokes. Asian rhino horn is believed to be more effective than African horn. 

Despite protection – and although internatinal trade in rhino horn is banned –rhino horn is still traded extensively throughout Asia.

• More on wildlife trade

Habitat loss and degradation
The enormous reduction in the species' range was mainly caused by the disappearance of alluvial plain grasslands.

Today, the need for land by the growing human population remains a major threat.

Many of the protected areas with rhinos have now reached the limit of how many individuals they can support. This leads to rhino-human conflict as rhinos leave the boundaries of the protected area to forage around the surrounding villages. Rhinos, mainly females, reportedly kill several people each year in India and Nepal.

• More on habitat loss and degradation

How you can help

• Don't buy rhino horn products. Illegal trade in rhino horn is a continuing problem, posing one of the greatest threats to rhinos today.
    
• Donate to WWF to support the Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy
  
  
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