There are five different species of rhinoceros.
Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros.
Three are from southern Asia and two are from Africa.
White rhinos are the second largest land mammal.
The white rhino can weigh over 3500 kg (7700 lb).
It is the largest rhino species and the largest land mammal after the elephant.
The Black Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros are all Critically Endangered.
This means they have a 50% chance of becoming extinct in three generations.
Poaching and habitat loss are the main threats to the rhino population.
Rhinos have been on our plant for over 50 million years.
They haven't changed much since prehistoric times.
Some of the first rhinos didn’t have horns and once roamed throughout North America and Europe.
Rhinos have never inhabited the South American or Australian continents.
The Javan rhino is the world’s rarest land mammal.
Less than 50 Javan rhinos survive in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, and this is the only population. None exist in zoos.
Rhinoceros horns are made from Keratin. This is a protein, the same substance that fingernails and hair are made of.
The rhino’s horn is not bone, it is a dense mass of hairs that continues to grow throughout the animal’s lifetime, just like human hair and nails.
The name rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’ and is often shortened to rhino.
It comes from the Greek words rhino (nose) and ceros (horn).
Rhinos are a target for poachers because of their horns. There is a myth that rhino horn has medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. IT DOESN'T.