Indian rhinoceros

The Indian rhinoceros, also called the greater one-horned rhino, lives on the Indian subcontinent. It is the second largest rhino in the world and the largest in Asia. Adult males weigh around 2.1 to 2.2 tonnes, and females about 1.6 tonnes. Its grey-brown skin has pinkish folds, and its shoulders and upper legs are covered with wart-like bumps.

It has a single horn that can reach about 57 to 62 centimetres. The rhino lives in 12 protected areas in northern India and southern Nepal. It is listed as Vulnerable. In the early 1990s only about 1,870 to 1,895 were left, but conservation raised the count to roughly 4,075 by March 2025.

Grazer of the grasslands

Indian rhinos are mostly solitary and graze, eating grass but also leaves, twigs, fruit, flowers and water plants. They swim well, as the globe card says. A female has one calf after a pregnancy of about 15.7 months, and she waits three to four years before the next birth. In captivity they can live up to 47 years. Parasites like leeches and ticks, and diseases like anthrax, can make them ill.

Kaziranga and conservation

Kaziranga National Park in Assam holds about two thirds of all Indian rhinos. Hunting and farming once shrank their range greatly, and poaching for horns remains a constant danger. Linnaeus gave the species its scientific name in 1758, and the word rhinoceros comes from Greek words for nose and horn. Government protection has helped the population grow, but it is still confined to small areas.

On the globe

Look in Kaziranga National Park, Assam; the card shows the single horn and armour-like skin folds.