The Indian Rhinoceros Explained

The Indian rhinoceros lives in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It occupies 12 protected areas across northern India and southern Nepal.

Adult males weigh 2,070 to 2,200 kilograms. It is the second largest living rhinoceros.

It can sprint for short periods.

Thick grey-brown skin has pinkish folds full of blood vessels. The horn is pure keratin.

Females birth a single calf after 15.7 months, then wait 34 to 51 months. That is one long maternity leave.

It eats mainly grass but also twigs, leaves and aquatic plants. Mynahs and egrets eat invertebrates from its skin.

In the early 1900s the population dropped to 100 individuals. Conservation measures increased that number to 4,075 by March 2025.

Carl Linnaeus named it Rhinoceros unicornis in 1758, listing Africa and India as its home. He was only half right.