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| Common Name: | Indian Rhinocerous | Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
| Latin Name: | Rhinoceros unicornis | Diet: | Herbivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Grasslands |
| Native To: | Asia | Social Unit: | Individual |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Vulnerable |
Indian rhinoceros at Edinburgh Zoo
Here at the Zoo we feed the rhinos on a hay and straw mixture, as well as browser pellets, which are especially developed for zoo animals. The rhinos also receive apples on a daily basis, and we provide them with as much fresh foliage as possible. The rhinos will eat the leaves and bark of trees such as willow, horse chestnut, sycamore and many other varieties. However, they particularly enjoy bamboo, which is similar to the types of long grasses they would eat in the wild.
The enrichment we provide to our rhinos includes balls and tyres for them to play with, an indoor heated pool (a cosy 32 degrees centigrade!) as well as a deep outside pool and a mud wallow. However, the best entertainment the rhinos have are each other! You can often see them charging round the paddock after each other, wallowing in mud, or jumping on top of each other in the outside pool. They are particularly playful around the early afternoon time.
At lunch time, the keepers do a daily training session which involves getting the rhinos to lie down so we can inspect their feet and give any foot care needed. This is important, as rhinos’ feet need good monitoring in captivity. Some rhinos have been known to get cracks in their nails, which can be painful for the rhino, but very easy to treat if the rhinos have been trained.
The Indian rhino has an endangered species breeding program in Europe. Both our male rhinos will get the chance to participate in the program as soon as they are sexually mature, which should be around the time they reach the age of 6 or 7 years old. The studbook keeper in Switzerland will decide which male will go off to a new zoo and which female we will receive here at Edinburgh.
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
The Indian rhinoceros enclosure is next to the Education centre, opposite the penguins. There is a daily rhino talk at 2.45 pm where you can find out more about them and ask the rhino keeper any questions you might have.
Indian rhinoceros in the wild
In the wild, Indian rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) can be found in Assam, India and over the border into Nepal. They inhabit tall grass forests, but increasingly they have to use more cultivated land as man has encroached on their habitat. They mostly eat the tall grasses but will also eat leaves, shrubs, bark and fruits.
Male rhinos are solitary, with unstructured, overlapping territories. Female rhinos are also solitary except when they are with their calves.
In the past, Indian rhinos could be found across the entire northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Indian rhino populations declined drastically from 1600 – 1900 due to habitat destruction, sport hunting, and poaching. The species was on the brink of extinction at the beginning of the 20th century. Strict protection by the Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities has helped these populations to recover from a total population low of 200 in the early 1900s to an estimated 2,575 in the wild in 2007.
Indian rhinos are still threatened by habitat quality loss due to severe invasion of alien plants and loss of wetlands and grasslands due to forest encroachment. Another severe threat is poaching, mainly for the use of the horn in traditional Chinese medicine.
Because of their population increases in recent years, the Indian rhinoceros is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as Vulnerable, meaning that it is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Breeding programme category: EEP
IUCN Red List category: Vulnerable
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