Olivia O's Rhino Project
- 1. By Olivia
- 2. Appearance Rhinoceroses are the second largest mammal on land a7er the elephant. They are herbivores meaning their diet is made up of grass, branches, bits of trees, leaves and other vegeta>on. It can stand up to 6 feet tall and is 150cm across from each shoulder and weigh up to 750 to 8 000 pounds –a tonne or so. It has liHle eyes which results in poor eye sight but makes up for that using its excellent sense of smell and hearing. The Black rhino has a hooked lip which helps pull leafy branches into its mouth just like a hand! Whereas the White rhino has a square lip that means it can only eat grasses. Every rhino including the White, Javan, Sumatran and Indian has three toes on each foot/hoof. The Asian Javan and Indian rhino have just one horn whereas the African Black and White rhino have two horns. Their skin can be as thick as 1.5cm-‐5cm (it’s a bit like armour). Even though its so thick its sensi>ve to sunburn and insect bites. Some interes>ng facts about the rhino’s appearance: • The Black Rhino has no hair apart from the small amount on its tail, eyelids and ears. The African White Rhino’s horn can grow up to 1.5m long! The average newborn rhino can weigh up to 50kg at birth!
- 3. Habitat • All rhinos are either found in Asia or Africa (unless in a zoo). • They live in dense forests, grass lands and deserts. • Not only are their habitats good for shelter/cover but also for food because their diet consists of food found in their habitats. They do not eat meat of any sort and but can aHack and kill or severely hurt if you come too close to it or its calf. • Some>mes rhinos may have to move from habitat to habitat because of drought and land development.
- 4. Sta>s>cs Over the last few years scien>sts and possibly zoologists have been studying the five different breeds of rhinoceroses and the number of them le7 over the whole world. As a result they found out that the Javan over all is the most vulnerable with only less than forty le7! Following them is the Sumatran with only four hundred. However some wildlife reserves and zoos are giving homes to rhinoceroses thus helping to breed more and preven>ng poachers from ge^ng their valuable horns. Despite this some rhinos aren't so lucky and poachers are s>ll a7er their horns for Vietnamese and Chinese medicinal uses and dagger and weapon handles used by many African tribes. In addi>on the medicines and po>ons have no powers or effects! This is because the horns are made of kera>n which is exactly the same material our nails and hair are made up of! Nevertheless they’re s>ll ge^ng hunted at a rapid pace. Even the Black, White and Indian are endangered thus the African Black Rhino is facing ex>nc>on in the wild. Incidentally did you know that similar things are happening to elephants. Finally if we don’t do anything in the future there won’t be any rhinos to enjoy and they’ll all end up like the thylacine.
- 5. How many horns does the African Black rhino have? a. 1 b. 3 c. 2 d. None Which two con>nents do rhinos originate from? a. Asia, South America b. Africa, Asia c. Africa , Europe d. None of the above What are rhino horns made of? a. Kera>n b. Calcium c. Bone