- The name rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’ and is often shortened to rhino.
- The rhinoceros is a large herbivorous mammal, whose distinguishing feature is their large size and the horn or horns that grows from the top of their head.
- Rhino horns are not made of bone, but of keratin, the same material found in your hair and fingernails.
- A fossil skull first thought to be that of a dragon, turned out to be from an extinct woolly rhinoceros.
- It is a solitary animal, active mainly at night.
- Rhinos can grow to over 6 feet tall and more than 11 feet in length.
- Rhinos make their own sun block by wallowing in mud and letting it dry. The dried mud also protects them from some blood sucking insects.
- A white rhino can produce 50lb of dung per day.
- Biologists estimate that wild rhinos live up to 35 years. In captivity, a rhino may live 40 years.
- The gestation period of black rhinos is 15 to 16 months.
- Black rhinos fight each other and have the highest rate of death among mammals in fights among the same species. Fifty percent of males and 30% of females die from these intra-species fights.
- Black rhinos run on their toes and can go as fast as 35 mph.
