More Facts About Rhinos
- There are only 60 Javan rhinos left – they are the rarest large mammal in the world.
- The black rhino, Javan rhino and Sumatran rhino are all critically endangered. What does critically endangered mean? There is a 50% chance of them becoming extinct in the wild in 3 generations or 10 years (whichever is longer).
- A rhino pregnancy lasts for 15-16 months!
- Black rhinos like to wallow and it is thought that they got their name from the dark colour they turn after a good wallow in the mud.
- The white rhino has a long, flat upper lip so they can graze on grass.
- The other rhino species have hooked lips which allows them to feed on trees and shrubs.
- The greater one-horned rhino and the Javan rhino only have 1 horn. They also have folds of skin that look like armour plating (pretty cool).
- The Sumatran rhino has hair (this makes the babies particularly cute).
What’s in a name?
White and black rhinos are actually both grey!
It is thought that the early English settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the Afrikaans word “weit” for “white”. Weit actually means wide, and described the white rhinos wide mouth.What Do The Poachers Want With The Rhino Horns Anyway?
Rhino horn is ground down into a powder and drunk as tea and is used to reduce heat from the body for things like fever.
How could this ever possibly work?…
Rhino horn is made of keratin (the same as your hair and nails).
Do you think chewing on your own hair or nails would make you
feel better if you were unwell? Yuck! No way!
Where Do Rhinos Live?
I know it’s hard to see where the rhino populations are on the map, but sadly this is because there are so few rhinos left and in such small pockets. In 2021 – there were only around 18,000 white rhinos, around 5,600 black rhinos, around 3,700 greater one-horned rhinos, fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos and around 60 Javan rhinos. The Javan rhinos are only found in one park (Ujung Kulon National Park) in Java, Indonesia.
Check out The POWEs And The Disappearing Tusks - in this exciting adventure the POWEs help save rhinos and elephants from poachers by coming up with an ingenious plan. A percentage of the profits from the sale of this book goes directly to the wildlife charities that are working to protect rhinos and elephants.