Indian Rhino

Indian Rhino
One of the greatest creature on this earth

1. Indian Rhinoceros
Presented by
Osar Gao
Batch(2008-09)

2. Kinds of Rhinos in the world
There are five kinds of Rhinos found in the
world
» Indian Rhino
» White Rhino
» Black Rhino
» Javan Rhino
» Sumatran Rhino

3. •Order: Perissodactyla
•Family: Rhinocerotidae
•Common name:Great Indian Rhinoceros, Gainda
Scientific name: Rhinoceros unicornis
•Rhinoceros: from the Greek
•“rhino”, meaning "nose"
• “ceros”, meaning "horn" and
•“unicornis” from the Latin “uni”, meaning "one" and
• “cornis”, meaning "horn"

4. Distribution: Bhutan, India(Assam, West Bengal), Nepal

5. STATUS
•Classified as Endangered on the 2006
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,
and listed on Appendix I of CITES.
•Now the status has been upgraded to
vulnerable.

6. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
•Size: Head and body length:
Male: 368-380 cm           Female: 310-340 cm
Shoulder height
Male: 170-186 cm           Female: 148-73 cm
Tail length: 70-80 cm
Horn length: 529 mm (max.) 
•Weight: Male: 2,200 kg     Female: 1,600 kg 
•This species is the largest of the Asian rhinos. 
•It is brownish-grey in colour and hairless.
•Can be differentiated from the closely related Javan rhinoceros by the fact that its 
deeply folded skin is covered in large, raised bumps. This gives the animal the 
appearance of being covered in plates of armour with rivets. 
•The rhino has a single large horn and a semi-prehensile upper lip, which it uses to 
grasp food. 

7. ECOLOGY
•Lives in northern India and southern Nepal. 
•Mainly inhabits riverine (flood plain) grasslands and 
occasionally utilizes some adjacent woodland.
•Are grazers
•When not grazing on land, animals like to immerse 
themselves in water, where they also graze on aquatic grass-
like plants. 

8. BREEDING 
•The female Indian rhinoceros comes into heat 
(is ready to mate) for 24 hours every 5-8 weeks.
• She attracts the male by spraying urine and by 
making a gentle whistling sound. 
•The solitary female seeks dense cover when she 
is ready to give birth.
• The calf stays with its mother until the birth of 
her next offspring, between 18 months and two 
years later.

9. •Gestation lasts approximately 15-16 
months, and mothers give birth to one calf 
every 1-3 years.
•Females reach sexual maturity between 5 
and 7 years of age; males mature at 
approximately 10 years of age.
•Greater one-horned rhinos are usually 
solitary except for females with young. 
Males maintain loosely-defended 
territories.

10. BREEDING

11. THREATS
•The main reason for the
species' decline is the
loss of habitat due to
agricultural development.
•This has also made
rhinos more accessible
to poachers, who illegally
hunt them for their horns
and other body parts that
are used in traditional
Asian medicine.
•While most animals are
now protected in
sanctuaries, poaching is
still a major threat.

12. Rhinos are also forced to compete for resources with local
villagers and their livestock.

13. CONSERVATION UNDERWAY
•The Indian and Nepalese governments are
working with international conservation
organisations to enforce laws protecting the
species.
•The situation is encouraging, with rhino numbers
recovering from fewer than 200 at the start of the
twentieth century to around 2,400 today.
• However, poaching remains a threat, as does
habitat loss and degradation.
•Current conservation initiatives include regular
patrols of protected areas by anti-poaching teams,
and the translocation of animals from successful
populations into protected areas within the former
range.

14. CONSERVATION PROPOSED
•Maintaining the wild population is critical. Numbers
need to be closely monitored and it is important to
continue to protect against poaching.
•Translocation of animals from successful populations
to areas of suitable habitat should continue, to create
as many viable populations as possible.
•Where possible, habitat should be improved and
extended, with corridors established to link protected
areas. Education programmes are also essential, to
teach local communities how to co-exist with the
rhinos and use the land sustainably.
•In addition, education in consumer countries should
continue along with research to find an alternative to
rhino horn in traditional Asian medicine, so that
incentives to poach are reduced.

15. Radio-collaring a rhino calf before its relocation
to Manas NP
wooden crate enclosure.
Rhino translocation to Manas NP in a truck
Release of a rhino calf into the boma in Manas
NP.

16. MAN & RHINO CONFLICT
•Conflict between man and the Indian rhinoceros arises
from the damage rhinos do to crops and the damage
man does to the rhino's food supply-elephant grass.
• In Nepal, villagers who use elephant grass for the walls
and the roofs of their houses, are now allowed to collect
grass in national parks at certain times of the year. This
arrangement encourages new growth of grass, which in
turn benefits the rhinos.

17. DID YOU KNOW?
•Indian Rhinoceroses are vulnerable to
sunburn. By wallowing in mud, they
protect their skin from the sun.
•The first weeks after giving birth, mother
rhinos produce 5 - 7 gallons of milk daily.

18. Thank u