SOME NOT SO PRETTY

RHINO

Small little ears

Tiny round eyes

But he is so fat

Just eating the plant

 Rhino The Great

Have you seen a rhino lumber along on his big flat feet?  They are so huge they can weigh a ton or more!  His full name is rhinoceros, which means “nose horn”.  You have noticed he has a big horn on top of his nose and some of them have two horns.  They eat leaves and fibrous plants.  

The rhino lives in Africa and south Asia and in India. In the past they were much more prevalent in a wider range but they have been hunted down for their horns. 

The black rhino has pointed lips for eating foliage. The white rhino has flat, broad lips for eating grass.  Some rhinos can be 6 feet high and 15 feet long. 

The mother will walk over the tall plants and bushes and hold them down close to the ground so the baby Rhino can have no trouble reaching the foliage for its breakfast.  The parents are very protective of the young.  They do not have predators because of their huge size and very thick skin so they can live to be up to 50 years old.

There are several sounds that the Rhino will make during courtship such as grunting, squeals of distress, grunts and panting, bellows and growls. 

The big daddy will mark out his territory with his urine and manure and the big bulls will fight mostly over the female rhino.

They spend half the day eating and part of the day resting and doing other activities.

The rhino is agile, quick to run and can run 31 miles per hour.  He likes to drink water two times a day but sometimes if he has to he can go five days without drinking water.  They are fond of the mud holes and lakes where they wallow in the mud.