Free Photo: Great Asian Rhinoceros at the Philadelphia Zoo in Pennsylvania

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A Great Asian Rhinoceros in it's pen at the Philadelphia Zoo in Philadelphi, PA.

The word “rhinoceros” comes from the Greek words for “nose horn.”  A rhino’s horn is made of keratin fibers— densely packed hair that is not closely attached to the skull. The rhino is the only mammal that has a horn attached to its nose rather than the top of its head. Both African species and one of the Asian species of rhino have two horns. The other two species of Asian rhino have only one horn. Asian rhinos tend to have much shorter horns than African ones.

The Asian rhino has an armor-like appearance that is created by the folds in its thick, gray skin. It has very little hair except on its ears, which swivel like radar antennas to help the animal pick up sounds.  Rhinos have poor eyesight and depend on their hearing and their acute sense of smell.

There are only approximately 2,500 Asian rhinoceros remaining in the wild. They live mostly in protected parks and they face danger from poachers when they wander outside of the park boundaries. Their habitat is mainly river flood plains and grasslands, but occasionally they use nearby woodlands. Asian rhinos are the most aquatic of all rhino species and are rarely found far from water. They will often spend large parts of the day partially submerged while grazing on water plants. (source: http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/zoo/Meet-Our-Animals/Mammals/Hoofed/Asian-Rhinoceros.htm#tab-2)

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