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A greater one-horned rhinoceros with thick, folded skin walking through grass.
Photo: Mayank1704, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros unicornis

A huge, armor-looking rhino of India and Nepal with a single horn, whose numbers have recovered from about 150 animals to thousands.

🦓 Hoofed Mammals
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About the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

Greater one-horned rhinos, also called Indian rhinos, live in the grasslands of northeastern India and southern Nepal. A male can weigh about 2,200 kg (4,850 pounds). They eat 150 to 200 kg of grasses, flowers, fruit and twigs each day. Rhinos usually live alone and spend time wallowing in mud and water, which helps them stay cool and keeps them from drying out.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Rhinoceros unicornis[1]
Size
Males 3.7 to 3.8 m long and 1.70 to 1.86 m tall at the shoulder. Females are smaller.[1]
Weight
Males about 2,200 kg (4,850 pounds). Females about 1,600 kg (3,530 pounds).[1]
Lifespan
Up to about 40 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Herbivore. Grasses, flowers, fruit, twigs and branches: 150 to 200 kg a day.[1]
Habitat
Wet floodplain grasslands and dry savanna grasslands.[1]
Where it lives
Northeastern India and parts of southern Nepal.[1]
Group life
Usually solitary. Most active in the early morning, late afternoon and at night.[1]
Babies
Pregnancy lasts 425 to 496 days (about 15 to 16 months). A newborn calf weighs 40 to 81 kg.[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN Red List, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • A rhino's horn is made of keratin, a tough protein.[1]
  • Rolling in mud and water helps rhinos stay cool and keeps them from drying out.[1]
  • Kaziranga National Park in India is home to more than 2,000 of these rhinos.[1]
  • A rhino calf drinks its mother's milk for 12 to 18 months.[1]

Vocabulary

keratin
A tough protein that makes up hair, nails, hooves and horns.
wallow
To roll around or lie in mud or water.
poaching
Hunting or capturing animals illegally.
floodplain
Flat land next to a river that floods during the rainy season.
vulnerable
A conservation label meaning a species faces a high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. “Rhinoceros unicornis (Indian rhinoceros).” https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Rhinoceros_unicornis/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Rhinoceros unicornis (Greater One-horned Rhino).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/19496/18494149 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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