Indian rhinoceros

This article is about the Greater one horned rhinoceros. For the lesser one-horned rhinoceros, which has an extinct subspecies known as the lesser Indian rhinoceros, see Javan rhinoceros.

Indian rhinoceros Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
An Indian rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Rhinocerotidae
Genus:	Rhinoceros
Species:	R. unicornis
Binomial name
Rhinoceros unicornis Linnaeus, 1758
Indian rhinoceros historical range

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros, great Indian rhinoceros, or Indian rhino for short, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is the second largest extant species of rhinoceros, with adult males weighing 2.07–2.2 tonnes and adult females 1.6 tonnes. The skin is thick and is grey-brown in colour with pinkish skin folds. They have a single horn on their snout that grows to a maximum of 57.2 cm (22.5 in). Their upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps, and aside from the eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush, Indian rhinoceroses are nearly hairless.

The Indian rhinoceros is a largely solitary animal, only associating in the breeding season and when rearing calves. They are grazers, and their diet is mainly grass, but may also include twigs, leaves, branches, shrubs, flowers, fruits, and aquatic plants. Females give birth to a single calf after a gestation of 15.7 months; the birth interval is 34 to 51 months. Captive individuals can live up to 47 years. The Indian rhinoceros is susceptible to diseases such as anthrax, and those caused by parasites such as leeches, ticks, and nematodes.

It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 km² (7,700 sq mi). As of August 2018, the global population was estimated to comprise 3,588 individuals. Indian rhinos once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced its range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal. In the early 1990s, between 1,870 and 1,895 Indian rhinos were estimated to have been alive. Since then, numbers have increased due to conservation measures taken by the government. However, poaching remains a continuous threat.

Taxonomy

Rhinoceros unicornis was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 who described a rhinoceros with one horn. As type locality, he indicated Africa and India. He described two species in India, the other being Rhinoceros bicornis, and stated that the Indian species had two horns, while the African species had only one.^[2]

The Indian rhinoceros is a single species. Several specimens were described since the end of the 18th century under different scientific names, which are all considered synonyms of Rhinoceros unicornis today:^[3]

• R. indicus by Cuvier, 1817
• R. asiaticus by Blumenbach, 1830
• R. stenocephalus by Gray, 1867
• R. jamrachi by Sclater, 1876
• R. bengalensis by Kourist, 1970^[4]

Etymology

The generic name rhinoceros is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek: ῥινόκερως, which is composed of ῥινο- (rhino-, "of the nose") and κέρας (keras, "horn") with a horn on the nose.^[5] The name has been in use since the 14th century.^[6][7] The Latin word ūnicornis means "one-horned".^[8]

Evolution

Main article: Rhinoceros § Evolution

Ancestral rhinoceroses first diverged from other perissodactyls in the Early Eocene. Mitochondrial DNA comparison suggests the ancestors of modern rhinos split from the ancestors of Equidae around 50 million years ago.^[9] The extant family, the Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in the Late Eocene in Eurasia, and the ancestors of the extant rhino species dispersed from Asia beginning in the Miocene.^[10] The last common ancestor of living rhinoceroses belonging to the subfamily Rhinocerotinae is suggested to have lived around 16 million years ago, with the ancestors of the genus Rhinoceros diverging from the ancestors of other living rhinoceroses around 15 million years ago. The genus Rhinoceros has been found to be overall slightly more closely related to the Sumatran rhinoceros (as well as to the extinct woolly rhinoceros and the extinct Eurasian genus Stephanorhinus) than to living African rhinoceroses, though there appears to have been gene flow between the ancestors of living African rhinoceroses and the genus Rhinoceros, as well as between the ancestors of the genus Rhinoceros and the ancestors of the woolly rhinoceros and Stephanorhinus.^[11]

A cladogram showing the relationships of recent and Late Pleistocene rhinoceros species (minus Stephanorhinus hemitoechus) based on whole nuclear genomes, after Liu et al., 2021:^[11]

	Elasmotheriinae †Elasmotherium sibiricum Rhinocerotinae White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) † Woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) † Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)

The earliest fossils of the genus Rhinoceros date to the Late Miocene, around 8–9 million years ago.^[12] The divergence between the Indian and Javan rhinoceros is estimated to have occurred around 4.3 million years ago.^[11] The earliest representatives of the modern Indian rhinoceros appeared during the Early Pleistocene (2.6-0.8 million years ago). Fossils indicate that the Indian rhinoceros during the Pleistocene also inhabited areas considerably further east of its current distribution, including mainland Southeast Asia, South China and the island of Java, Indonesia.^[13]

Characteristics

Indian rhinos have a thick grey-brown skin with pinkish skin folds and one 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 60 cm (24 in) and an occiput above 19 cm (7.5 in). The nasal horn is slightly back-curved with a base of about 18.5 cm (7.3 in) by 12 cm (4.7 in) that rapidly narrows until a smooth, even stem part begins about 55 mm (2.2 in) above base. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob.^[14] 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 25 cm (9.8 in), but has been recorded up to 57.2 cm (22.5 in) in length and 3.051 kg (6.73 lb) in weight.^[15][14]

Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, Indian rhinos are second in size only to the Asian elephant.^[16] They are also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the white rhinoceros. Bulls have a head and body length of 368–380 cm (12.07–12.47 ft) with a shoulder height of 163–193 cm (5.35–6.33 ft), while cows have a head and body length of 310–340 cm (10.2–11.2 ft) and a shoulder height of 147–173 cm (4.82–5.68 ft).^[17][14] The bull, averaging about 2,070–2,200 kg (4,560–4,850 lb) is heavier than the cow, at an average of about 1,600 kg (3,530 lb).^[17][14] The largest individuals reportedly weigh up to 4,000 kg (8,820 lb).^[18]

Indian rhinoceros at Kaziranga National Park

Wart-like bumps on the hind legs

The Indian rhinoceros's single horn

The skull of an Indian rhinoceros

The rich presence of blood vessels underneath the tissues in folds gives them the pinkish colour. The folds in the skin increase the surface area and help in regulating the body temperature.^[19] The thick skin does not protect against bloodsucking Tabanus flies, leeches and ticks.^[14]

Distribution and habitat

Indian rhinos once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian subcontinent, along the Indus, 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 grasslands of the Terai and the Brahmaputra basin.^[20] 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.^[21]

The species was present in northern Bihar and Oudh at least until 1770 as indicated in maps produced by Colonel Gentil.^[22] On the former abundance of the species, Thomas C. Jerdon wrote in 1867:^[23]

This huge rhinoceros is found in the Terai at the foot of the Himalayas, from Bhutan to Nepal. It is more common in the eastern portion of the Terai than the west, and is most abundant in Assam and the Bhutan Dooars. I have heard from sportsmen of its occurrence as far west as Rohilcund, but it is certainly rare there now, and indeed along the greater part of the Nepal Terai; ... Jelpigoree, a small military station near the Teesta River, was a favourite locality whence to hunt the Rhinoceros and it was from that station Captain Fortescue ... got his skulls, which were ... the first that Mr. Blyth had seen of this species, ...

Today, its range has further shrunk to a few pockets in southern Nepal, northern West Bengal, and the Brahmaputra Valley. Its habitat is surrounded by human-dominated landscapes, so that in many areas, it occurs in cultivated areas, pastures, and secondary forests. In the 1980s, Indian rhinos were frequently seen in the narrow plain area of Manas River and Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan.^[21]

Populations

In 2022, the total Indian rhinoceros population was estimated to be 4,014 individuals, up from 2,577 in 2006. Among them, 3,262 are in India and the remaining 752 are in Nepal and Bhutan. There is no permanent rhino population in Bhutan, but small rhino populations are occasionally known to cross from the Manas National Park or Buxa Tiger Reserve in India.^[24]

In India, there are around 2,885 individuals in Assam, including 2,613 in Kaziranga National Park, 125 in Orang National Park, 107 in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and 40 in Manas National Park. West Bengal has a population of 339 individuals, including 287 in Jaldapara National Park and 52 in Gorumara National Park. Only 38 individuals are found in Dudhwa National Park, in Uttar Pradesh.^[25][26]

Indian rhinoceros in Manas National Park, Assam

Rhino at Jaldapara National Park, West Bengal

Rhino in Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh

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.^[27] The population in Kaziranga National Park was estimated at 2,048 individuals in 2009.^[28] By 2009, the population in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary had increased to 84 individuals in an area of 38.80 km² (14.98 sq mi).^[29]

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.^[30]

Indian rhinoceros in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

The Indian rhino population, which once numbered as low as 100 individuals in the early 1900s, has increased to more than 3,700 in the year 2021 as per The International Rhino Foundation.^[31]

Ecology and behaviour

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.^[14] They bathe regularly. The folds in their skin trap water and hold it even when they exit wallows.^[19] They are excellent swimmers and can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h (34 mph) for short periods. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but relatively poor eyesight. Over 10 distinct vocalisations have been recorded. Males have home ranges of around 2 to 8 km² (0.77 to 3.09 sq mi) 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.^[32] Indian rhinos have few natural enemies, except for tigers, which sometimes kill unguarded calves, but adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their size. Mynahs and egrets 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 leeches, ticks, and nematodes like Bivitellobilharzia nairi. Anthrax and the blood-disease sepsis are known to occur.^[14] 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.^[33] Such cases are rare, as Indian rhinoceroses—like most megaherbivores—are mostly invulnerable to predation.^[34][35]

Diet

Indian rhinos are grazers. Their diet consists almost entirely of grasses (such as Arundo donax, Bambusa tulda, Cynodon dactylon, and Oryza sativa), but they also eat leaves, twigs and branches of shrubs and trees (such as Lagerstroemia indica), flowers, fruits (such as Ficus religiosa), and submerged and floating aquatic plants.^[36] They feed in the mornings and evenings. They use their semi-prehensile lips to grasp grass stems, bend the stem down, bite off the top, and then eat the grass. They tackle very tall grasses or saplings by walking over the plant, with legs on both sides and using the weight of their bodies to push the end of the plant down to the level of the mouth. Mothers also use this technique to make food edible for their calves. They drink for a minute or two at a time, often imbibing water filled with rhinoceros urine.^[14]

Rhino and Elephant grazing

Social life

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.^[37] 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.^[38] Groups of two or three young bulls 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, typically a dominant male with females and calves, gather in wallows.^[15]

Indian rhinos make a wide variety of vocalisations. At least 10 distinct vocalisations have been identified: snorting, honking, bleating, roaring, squeak-panting, moo-grunting, shrieking, groaning, rumbling and humphing. In addition to noises, the Indian rhino uses olfactory communication. Adult bulls urinate backwards, as far as 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) behind them, often in response to being disturbed by observers. Like all rhinos, the Indian rhinoceros often defecates near other large dung piles. The Indian rhino has pedal scent glands which are used to mark their presence at these rhino latrines. Bulls have been observed walking with their heads to the ground as if sniffing, presumably following the scent of cows.^[15]

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 chase cows over long distances and even attack them face-to-face. Indian rhinos use their horns for fighting, albeit less frequently than African rhinos, largely using the incisors of the lower jaw to inflict wounds.^[15]

Rhino in Kaziranga National Park

Indian rhinoceros showing its sharp lower incisor teeth used for fighting

Clash for territory between two Rhino

Reproduction

Captive bulls breed at five years of age, but wild bulls attain dominance much later when they are larger. In one five-year field study, only one Indian rhino estimated to be younger than 15 years mated successfully. Captive cows breed as young as four years of age, but in the wild, they usually start breeding only when six years old, which likely indicates they need to be large enough to avoid being killed by aggressive bulls.^[15] The ovarian cycle lasts 5.5 to 9 weeks on average.^[39] Their gestation period is around 15.7 months, and birth interval ranges from 34 to 51 months.^[15] An estimated 10% of calves will die before maturity. This is mainly attributed to predatory attacks from tigers (Panthera tigris).^[40] In captivity, four Indian rhinos lived over 40 years, the oldest living to be 47.^[14]

Indian rhino cow with calf

Threats

Habitat degradation caused by human activities and climate change as well as the resulting increase in the floods has caused many Indian rhino deaths and has limited their ranging areas which is shrinking.^[1]

Serious declines in quality of habitat have occurred in some areas, due to severe invasion by alien plants into grasslands affecting some populations, and demonstrated reductions in the extent of grasslands and wetland habitats due to woodland encroachment and silting up of beels (swampy wetlands). Grazing by domestic livestock is another cause.^[1]

The Indian rhino species is inherently at risk because over 70% of its population occurs at a single site, Kaziranga National Park. Any catastrophic event such as disease, civil disorder, poaching, or habitat loss would have a devastating impact on the Indian rhino's status. Additionally, a small population of rhinos may be prone to inbreeding depression.^[1]

Poaching

Main article: Rhino poaching in Assam

Taxidermied specimens, American Museum of Natural History

Sport hunting became common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was the main cause for the decline of Indian rhinoceros populations. Indian rhinos were hunted relentlessly and persistently. Reports from the mid-19th century claim that some British military officers shot more than 200 rhinos in Assam alone. By 1908, the population in Kaziranga National Park had decreased to around 12 individuals.^[14] In the early 1900s, the Indian rhinoceros was almost extinct. At present, poaching for the use of horn in traditional Chinese Medicine is one of the main threats that has led to decreases in several important populations.^[1] Poaching for the Indian rhino's horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhinoceros after conservation measures were put in place from the beginning of the 20th century, when legal hunting ended. From 1980 to 1993, 692 rhinos were poached in India, including 41 rhinos in India's Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary in 1983, almost the entire population of the sanctuary.^[41] By the mid-1990s, the Indian rhinoceros had been extirpated in this sanctuary.^[20] Between 2000 and 2006, more than 150 rhinos were poached in Assam.^[27][42] Almost 100 rhinos were poached in India between 2013 and 2018.^[43]

George V and Chandra Shumsher JBR with a slain rhino during a hunt (December 1911)

In 1950, in Nepal the Chitwan's forest and grasslands extended over more than 2,600 km² (1,000 sq mi) 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.^[44]

Conservation

The Indian rhinoceros is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red list, as of 2018.^[1] Globally, R. unicornis has been listed in CITES Appendix I since 1975. The Indian and Nepalese governments have taken major steps towards Indian rhinoceros conservation, especially with the help of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and other non-governmental organisations.^[1] In 1910, all rhino hunting in India became prohibited.^[14]

In 1957, the country's first conservation law ensured the protection of rhinos and their habitat. In 1959, Edward Pritchard Gee undertook a survey of the Chitwan Valley, and recommended the creation of a protected area north of the Rapti River and of a wildlife sanctuary south of the river for a trial period of 10 years.^[45] After his subsequent survey of Chitwan in 1963, he recommended extension of the sanctuary to the south.^[46] By the end of the 1960s, only 95 rhinos remained in the Chitwan Valley. The dramatic decline of the rhino population and the extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the Gaida Gasti – a rhino reconnaissance patrol of 130 armed men and a network of guard posts all over Chitwan. To prevent the extinction of rhinos, the Chitwan National Park was gazetted in December 1970, with borders delineated the following year and established in 1973, initially encompassing an area of 544 km² (210 sq mi). To ensure the survival of rhinos in case of epidemics, animals were translocated annually from Chitwan to Bardia National Park and Shuklaphanta National Park since 1986.^[44] The Indian rhinoceros population living in Chitwan and Parsa National Parks was estimated at 608 mature individuals in 2015.^[35]

Reintroduction to new areas

Indian rhinos have been reintroduced to areas where they had previously inhabited but became extinct. These efforts have produced mixed results, mainly due to lack of proper planning and management, sustained effort, and adequate security for the introduced animals.^[47]

In 1984, five Indian rhinos were relocated to Dudhwa National Park—four from the fields outside the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and one from Goalpara.^[21] This has born results and the population has increased to 21 rhinos by 2006.^[25] In early 1980s, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam had more than 70 Indian rhinos 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.^[43]

Indian rhinos were once found as far west as the Peshawar Valley during the reign of Mughal Emperor Babur, but are now extinct in Pakistan. After rhinos became "regionally extinct" in Pakistan,^[48] two rhinos from Nepal were introduced in 1983 to Lal Suhanra National Park, which have not bred so far.^[1][21]

In captivity

Indian rhinoceroses enjoy bathing at Zoo Basel

Indian rhinoceroses 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.^[14] As of 2012, 33 Indian rhinos were born at Switzerland's Zoo Basel alone,^[49] meaning that most captive animals are related to the Basel population. Due to the success of Zoo Basel's breeding program, the International 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.^[50]

The first recorded captive birth of an Indian rhinoceros was in Kathmandu in 1826, but another successful birth did not occur for nearly 100 years. In 1925, a rhino was born in Kolkata. No rhinoceros was successfully bred in Europe until 1956 when first European breeding took place when baby rhino Rudra was born in Zoo Basel on 14 September 1956.^[14] In June 2009, an Indian rhino was artificially inseminated using sperm collected four years previously and cryopreserved at the Cincinnati Zoo's CryoBioBank before being thawed and used. She gave birth to a male calf in October 2010.^[51] 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.^[52]

Cultural significance

The Pashupati seal, showing a seated figure that is surrounded by animals, including the Indian rhinoceros (c. 2350–2000 BCE)

The Indian rhinoceros is one of the motifs on the Pashupati seal and many terracotta figurines that were excavated at archaeological sites of the Indus Valley civilisation.^[53]

The Rhinoceros Sutra is an early text in the Buddhist tradition, found in the Gandhāran Buddhist texts and the Pali Canon, as well as a version incorporated into the Sanskrit Mahavastu.^[54] It praises the solitary lifestyle and stoicism of the Indian rhinoceros and is associated with the eremitic lifestyle symbolized by the Pratyekabuddha.^[55]

Europe

Dürer's Rhinoceros (1515)

Painting of Indian Rhinoceros by Thomas Daniell (c. 1790)

In the 3rd century, Philip the Arab exhibited an Indian rhinoceros in Rome.^[56] In 1515, Manuel I of Portugal obtained an Indian rhinoceros as a gift, which he passed on to Pope Leo X, but which died in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy in early 1516, on the way from Lisbon to Rome. Three artistic representations were prepared of this rhinoceros: A woodcut by Hans Burgkmair, a drawing and a woodcut (Dürer's Rhinoceros) by Albrecht Dürer, all dated 1515.^[56] In 1577–1588, Abada was a female Indian rhinoceros kept by the Portuguese kings Sebastian I and 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.^[56] George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys spread the rumour that his chief rival Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford had been seen riding on it.^[57]

In 1741–1758, Clara the rhinoceros (c. 1738 – 14 April 1758) was a female Indian rhinoceros who became famous during 17 years of 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, Bohemia and Denmark, she died in Lambeth, England. In 1739, she was drawn and engraved by two English artists. She was then brought to Amsterdam, where Jan Wandelaar made two engravings 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 her in Augsburg, and Petrus Camper modelled her in clay in Leiden. In 1749, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon drew it in Paris. In 1751, Pietro Longhi painted her in Venice.^[56]

See also

• Unicorn, mythological character
• The Soul of the Rhino

References

1. Ellis, S. & Talukdar, B. (2019). "Rhinoceros unicornis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T19496A18494149. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T19496A18494149.en. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
2. Linnæus, C. (1758). "Rhinoceros unicornis". Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Holmiae: Salvius. p. 56.
3. Srinivasulu, C., Srinivasulu, B. (2012). "Chapter 3: Checklist of South Asian Mammals" Archived 21 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine in: South Asian Mammals: Their Diversity, Distribution, and Status. Springer, New York, Heidelberg, London.
4. Grubb, P. (2005). "Order Perissodactyla". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 636. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
5. "Definition of RHINOCEROS". merriam-webster.com. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
6. Liddell, H. G. & Scott, R. (1940). "ῥίς". A Greek-English Lexicon (Revised and augmented ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
7. Liddell, H. G. & Scott, R. (1940). "κέρᾳ". A Greek-English Lexicon (Revised and augmented ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
8. Partridge, E. (1983). "ūnicornis". Origins: a Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. New York: Greenwich House. p. 296. ISBN 0-517-41425-2.
9. Xu, X.; Janke, A. & Arnason, U. (1996). "The Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequence of the Greater Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, and the Phylogenetic Relationship Among Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea)". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 13 (9): 1167–1173. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025681. PMID 8896369.
10. Lacombat, F. (2005). "The evolution of the rhinoceros" (PDF). In Fulconis, R. (ed.). Save the Rhinos: EAZA Rhino Campaign 2005/6. London: European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. pp. 46–49. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
11. Liu, Shanlin; Westbury, Michael V.; Dussex, Nicolas; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Heintzman, Peter D.; Duchêne, David A.; Kapp, Joshua D.; von Seth, Johanna; Heiniger, Holly; Sánchez-Barreiro, Fátima (24 August 2021). "Ancient and modern genomes unravel the evolutionary history of the rhinoceros family". Cell. 184 (19): 4874–4885.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.07.032. hdl:10230/48693. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 34433011.
12. Longuet, Morgane; Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein; Thaung-Htike; Man-Thit-Nyein; Takai, Masanaru (2 August 2024). "New fossil remains of Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla) from the early Late Miocene Tebingan area, central Myanmar". Historical Biology. 36 (8): 1468–1481. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2218873. ISSN 0891-2963.
13. Antoine, P.-O. (2012). "Pleistocene and Holocene rhinocerotids (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Indochinese Peninsula". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 11 (2–3): 159–168. Bibcode:2012CRPal..11..159A. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.002.
14. Laurie, W. A.; Lang, E. M.; Groves, C. P. (1983). "Rhinoceros unicornis" (PDF). Mammalian Species (211). American Society of Mammalogists: 1–6. doi:10.2307/3504002. JSTOR 3504002. S2CID 253915386. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2017.
15. Dinerstein, E. (2003). The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08450-1.
16. Harris, Tim (16 October 2018). The Encyclopedia of Animals: More than 1,000 Illustrations and Photographs. Book Sales. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7858-3646-9. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
17. Macdonald, D. (2001). The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198508239.
18. Boitani, L. (1984). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals. Simon & Schuster, Touchstone Books. ISBN 978-0-671-42805-1.
19. Attenborough, D. (2014). Attenborough's Natural Curiosities 2. Vol. Armoured Animals. UKTV.
20. Foose, T. & van Strien, N. (1997). Asian Rhinos – Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF). Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. ISBN 2-8317-0336-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
21. Choudhury, A. U. (1985). "Distribution of Indian one-horned rhinoceros". Tiger Paper. 12 (2): 25–30. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
22. Rookmaaker, K. (2014). "Three rhinos on maps of India drawn in Faizabad in the 18th century". Pachyderm (55): 95–96. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
23. Jerdon, T. C. (1867). The Mammals of India: a Natural History of all the animals known to inhabit Continental India. Roorkee: Thomason College Press. pp. 232–235.
24. Karmakar, Rahul (28 February 2019). "Rhinos without borders is conservation credo". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
25. Syangden, B.; Sectionov; Ellis, S.; Williams, A.C.; Strien, N.J.v. & Talukdar, B.K. (2008). Report on the regional meeting for India and Nepal IUCN/SSC Asian Rhino Species Group (AsRSG), March 5–7, 2007 Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India (PDF) (Report). Kaziranga: Asian Rhino Specialist Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
26. Karmakar, Sumir (22 September 2022). "One-horned rhino population crosses 4,000-mark". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
27. Hance, J. (2014). "Despite poaching, Indian rhino population jumps by 27 percent in eight years". Mongabay. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
28. Medhi, A. & Saha, A. K. (2014). "Land Cover Change and Rhino Habitat Mapping of Kaziranga National Park, Assam". In Singh, M.; Singh, R. B. & Hassan, M. I. (eds.). Climate Change and Biodiversity. Proceedings of IGU Rohtak Conference. Vol. 1, Part II. Springer Japan. pp. 125–138.
29. Sarma, P. K.; Talukdar, B. K.; Sarma, K. & Barua, M. (2009). "Assessment of habitat change and threats to the greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, using multi-temporal satellite data". Pachyderm. 46 (July–December): 18–24. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
30. "Nepal achieves 21% increase in rhino numbers". WWF Nepal. World Wildlife Fund. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
31. "State of the Rhino". International Rhino Foundation. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
32. Padhi, Surendra nath; Panda, Sasmita; Panigrahi, Gagan Kumar (May 2016). Wild Animals Of India. Anchor Academic Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 978-3-96067-014-8. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
33. Service, Tribune News. "Tigers kill rhino in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve". Tribuneindia News Service. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
34. Saikia, Munmi; Maiti, Atasi Patra; Devi, Anuradha (1 November 2020). "Effect of habitat complexity on rhinoceros and tiger population model with additional food and poaching in Kaziranga National Park, Assam". Mathematics and Computers in Simulation. 177: 169–191. doi:10.1016/j.matcom.2020.04.007. ISSN 0378-4754. S2CID 219043948.
35. Pant, G.; Maraseni, T.; Apan, A. & Allen, B.L. (2020). "Climate change vulnerability of Asia's most iconic megaherbivore: greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)". Global Ecology and Conservation. 23: e01180. Bibcode:2020GEcoC..2301180P. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01180.
36. "Rhinoceros unicornis (Indian rhinoceros)". Animal Diversity Web. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
37. Tripathi, A. (November 2013). "Social and Reproductive Behaviour of Great Indian One-horned Rhino, Rhinoceros unicornis in Dudhwa National Park, U.P., India". International Journal of Pharmacy and Life Science. 4 (11): 3116–3121. S2CID 130636556.
38. Laurie, Andrew (March 1982). "Behavioural ecology of the Greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)". Journal of Zoology. 196 (3): 307–341. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1982.tb03506.x. ISSN 0952-8369. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
39. Stoops, Monica A.; Pairan, Randal D.; Roth, Terri L. (1 December 2004). "Follicular, endocrine and behavioural dynamics of the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) oestrous cycle". Reproduction. 128 (6): 843–856. doi:10.1530/rep.1.00328. ISSN 1741-7899. PMID 15579602. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
40. Zschokke, Samuel; Studer, Peter; Baur, Bruno (1998). "Past and future breeding of the Indian rhinoceros in captivity". International Zoo News. 45 (5): 261–276.
41. Menon, V. (1996). Under siege: Poaching and protection of Greater One-horned Rhinoceroses in India (PDF) (Report). TRAFFIC India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
42. "Rhino census in India's Kaziranga park counts 12 more". 31 March 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
43. "Who killed the wandering rhino in Assam?". Mongabay-India. 9 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
44. Adhikari, T. R. (2002). "The curse of success". Habitat Himalaya. 9 (3): 1–4. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
45. Gee, E. P. (1959). "Report on a survey of the rhinoceros area of Nepal". Oryx. 5 (2): 67–76. doi:10.1017/S0030605300000326.
46. Gee, E. P. (1963). "Report on a brief survey of the wildlife resources of Nepal, including rhinoceros". Oryx. 7 (2–3): 67–76. doi:10.1017/S0030605300002416.
47. Jhala, Harshini Y.; Qureshi, Qamar; Jhala, Yadvendradev V.; Black, Simon A. (24 February 2021). "Feasibility of reintroducing grassland megaherbivores, the greater one-horned rhinoceros, and swamp buffalo within their historic global range". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 4469. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.4469J. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83174-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7904804. PMID 33627691.
48. Sheikh, K. M.; Molur, S. (2004). Status and Red List of Pakistan's Mammals. Based on the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (PDF). IUCN Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
49. "Es ist ein Junge!". Zoo Basel (in German). Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
50. "Panzernashorngeburt im Zoo Basel". Zoo Basel. 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
51. Patton, F. (2011) The Artificial Way Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Swara, (April–June 2011): 58–61.
52. Miller, M. (2014). "Baby Rhinoceros Makes Her Public Debut at Buffalo Zoo". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
53. Konasukawa, A. & Koiso, M. (2018). "The size of Indus seals and its significance". In D. Frenez; G. M. Jamison; R. W. Law; M. Vidale & R. H. Meadow (eds.). Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. pp. 292–317. ISBN 9781784919184. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
54. Salomon, R. (1997). "A Preliminary Survey of Some Early Buddhist Manuscripts Recently Acquired by the British Library". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 117 (2): 353–358. doi:10.2307/605500. JSTOR 605500.
55. Von Hinuber, O. (2003). "Review: A Gandhari Version of the Rhinoceros Sutra". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 123 (1): 221–224. JSTOR 3217869.
56. Rookmaaker, L. C. (1973). "Captive rhinoceroses in Europe from 1500 until 1810" (PDF). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. 43 (1): 39–63. doi:10.1163/26660644-04301002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
57. Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1841). "Rhinoceros". The Penny Cyclopaedia. Vol. 19. London: Charles Knight & Co. pp. 463–475. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

External links

• "Rhino Resource Center". Rhino Resource Center.
• "Greater One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis)". International Rhino Foundation.
• TheBigZoo.com: Greater Indian Rhinoceros
• Indian Rhino page at AnimalInfo.org
• Indian Rhinoceros page at UltimateUngulate.com