In the animal world, rhinoceroses. The largest rhinoceros. Dangerous fish. Piranhas
The rhinoceros is one of the iconic animals of Africa, a kind of calling card of the “dark continent”; it is not for nothing that it is one of the “big African five” along with the buffalo, lion and leopard, the same five animals that in the old days were the most honorable trophies of hunting safari. And the rhinoceros has quite poor vision, but as they say, with his size and power, these are no longer his problems.
Rhinoceros: description, structure, characteristics. What does a rhinoceros look like?
The Latin name of the rhinoceros - Rhinocerotidae, is essentially identical to ours, since “Rhino” means “nose”, and “ceros” is a horn, resulting in “rhinoceros”, this name very aptly characterizes this animal, because the large horn on the nose, growing from The nasal bone is an integral attribute of all decent rhinoceroses (however, not decent ones either).
And also a rhinoceros, the largest after the elephant land mammal– the length of a rhinoceros is from 2 to 5 meters, with a height of 1-3 meters and a weight of 1 to 3.6 tons.
The colors of rhinoceroses depend on their species; in fact, at first glance, it seems that the names of rhinoceros species actually come from their colors: white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros. But here not everything is so obvious and unambiguous, the fact is that the real skin color of both white and black rhinoceros is the same - gray-brown, but due to the fact that these rhinoceroses like to wallow in the ground of different colors, which colors them different colors, and their names went.
The head of a rhinoceros is long and narrow, with a steeply sloping forehead. Between the nasal bones and the forehead there is a concavity, somewhat similar to a saddle. The small eyes of a rhinoceros with brown or black pupils with their size look very contrasting against their background big head. As we already mentioned at the beginning, rhinoceroses’ eyesight is not important; they are only able to see moving objects from a distance of no more than 30 meters. In addition, the fact that their eyes are located on the sides does not give them the opportunity to properly examine this or that object; they see it first with one eye, then with the other.
But rhinoceroses’ sense of smell, on the contrary, is well developed, and it is on this that they rely most. Interestingly, the volume of the nasal cavity in rhinoceroses is larger than the volume of their brain. The hearing of these giants is also well developed; the ears of rhinoceroses are like tubes that constantly rotate, picking up even faint sounds.
The lips of rhinoceroses are straight and awkward, with the exception of the Indian and black rhinoceroses, which have a movable lower lip. Also, all rhinoceroses have 7 molars in their dental system, which wear out greatly with age; in addition to teeth, Asian rhinoceroses have incisors, which are absent in African rhinoceroses.
All rhinoceroses have thick skin, which is almost completely devoid of hair. The exception here is the modern Sumatran rhinoceros, whose skin is still covered with brown hair, and the woolly rhinoceros that once lived in our latitudes, which, together with the same woolly mammoth, unfortunately, has not survived to our times.
The legs of a rhinoceros are heavy and massive, each foot has three hooves, as a result of which it is very easy to recognize by the rhinoceros's tracks where these giants walked.
Rhino horn
Rhinoceros horn - his business card and it should be mentioned separately. So, depending on the species, a rhinoceros can have either one or two horns on its nose, with the second horn located closer to the head being smaller. Rhinoceros horns are made of the protein kerotin, by the way, human hair and nails, porcupine quills, bird feathers and armadillo shells are made of the same protein. Horns develop from the epidermis of rhinoceros skin.
When wounded, young rhinos recover their horns, but older rhinos no longer have horns. In general, all the functions of the rhinoceros horn have not yet been fully studied by zoologists, but for example, scientists have noticed such a curious fact - if the horn of a female rhinoceros is removed, she will cease to be interested in her offspring.
The owner of the longest horn is the white rhinoceros; it reaches 158 cm in length.
Where does the rhinoceros live?
Nowadays, from the once large family of rhinoceroses, only 5 species have survived, 3 of them live in Southeast Asia, these are the Indian rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros, and 2 species live in Africa, these are the black and white rhinoceroses. Below we will describe each type in more detail.
How long does a rhinoceros live?
The life expectancy of rhinoceroses is very long, so African rhinoceroses wildlife On average they live 30-40 years, and in zoos they live up to 50 years. But the longest-living rhinos are the Indian and Javan rhinos, which can live up to 70 years, almost the same as a human lifespan.
Rhino lifestyle
All rhinoceroses live alone, without creating herds. The exception is white rhinoceroses, which form small herds consisting of a female and cubs. Male and female rhinoceroses gather together only during mating. Despite such a peculiar solitary lifestyle, rhinoceroses also have friends among other representatives of the animal world, so voloklyi, small birds, constantly accompany rhinoceroses, pecking insects and insects from their skin, and at the same time, with their cry, bringing them closer to possible danger. It is not for nothing that in Swahili the name of these birds “wa kifaru” sounds like the protector of rhinoceroses.
Each rhinoceros has its own territory - a piece of pasture and a pond, which is its personal “land”; it jealously guards its territory. Rhinoceroses mark the boundaries of their “domains” with heaps of dung, which also serve them as a kind of “aromatic” landmark, allowing them to navigate in space and remain within the boundaries of their “land.”
Rhinoceroses are especially active, early in the morning and in the evening twilight, at this time they actively feed to get enough, which, given their big sizes not always simple task. But day and night, rhinoceroses, as a rule, sleep on their stomachs or lying on their sides, or take their much-loved “mud baths.” Rhinoceroses sleep very soundly and they say that at this time you can easily sneak up on them and even grab them by the tail (but we still highly recommend that you do not do this))).
Rhinoceroses are cautious animals, therefore, including from us, people, they try to stay away, but when they sense danger, they always attack first, and they attack very fiercely. That is why, when meeting a rhinoceros, you need to behave extremely carefully and delicately; an angry rhinoceros can run at a speed of 40-45 km per hour, and nothing can stop such a running carcass; for example, it can quite easily ram and even turn over a light one.
What does a rhinoceros eat?
Rhinoceroses are herbivores, however, they are very voracious, so on average a rhinoceros eats up to 72 kg of plant food per day. The main food of rhinoceroses is grass and fallen leaves from trees. Black and Indian rhinoceroses are not averse to eating shoots of trees and bushes. Sugar cane is the Indian rhinoceros's favorite food, while the Sumatran rhinoceros is very fond of various fruits, especially figs and mangoes.
Enemies of the Rhino
The main enemy of rhinoceroses is, of course, man, who in the old days mercilessly exterminated these animals, including for the sake of their famous horns, which are believed to have different healing properties. Before they were exterminated to the point that now all 5 species of rhinoceroses are listed in, since due to their low numbers they are on the verge of extinction.
In natural conditions, other animals, given the size and cautiously suspicious disposition of rhinoceroses, try to avoid them. But baby rhinos may well be hunted by different predators: lions, crocodiles. But they cannot cope with an adult large rhinoceros, which has thick skin and a sharp large horn.
Well, the time has come to describe in more detail the 5 species of these horned giants that exist in nature.
White rhinoceros
This is the largest rhinoceros in the world, and, oddly enough, the least aggressive among rhinoceroses. Its body length is 5 m, height 2-3 m with a weight of 2-3 tons, although there are also heavy white rhinoceroses weighing 4-5 tons. This rhinoceros also has two horns, the main horn is the largest in the rhinoceros family, and in addition to it, there is another smaller horn closer to the head. The white rhinoceros lives in the Eastern and South Africa, in countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Botswana.
This species of rhinoceros is extremely dangerous due to its aggressive nature. The approach of a person, even if it is an innocent tourist with a camera, can react quite nervously, so you should keep your distance from him. Just like the white rhinoceros, it has two horns, one large and the other small, but somewhat smaller in size. The body length of the black rhinoceros is up to 3 m. Also characteristic difference The black rhinoceros is characterized by the presence of a movable black lip. The black rhino lives in a number of countries in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa: South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.
As you probably guessed, the homeland of the Indian rhinoceros is India, but in addition to it, Indian rhinoceroses also live in Nepal. The body length of the Indian rhinoceros is on average 2 m and with a body weight of 2.5 tons. The Indian rhinoceros has only one horn, and unlike African rhinoceroses, it is not sharp, but rather blunt and convex.
The only one modern species rhinoceroses, whose skin is covered with small hair, which is why it is sometimes also called the “hairy rhinoceros”. It is also the most ancient among all rhinoceroses. The body length of the Sumatran rhinoceros is 2.3 m and weighs 2.25 tons. Among rhinoceroses, the Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest, but despite this, it remains one of the most large representatives animal world of our planet. The Sumatran rhinoceros lives on the island of Sumatra (in Indonesia), also in Malaysia.
This rhinoceros is in particularly poor condition, according to zoologists at this moment Only about 50 individuals of the Javan rhinoceros survive. It lives only on the island of Java in a reserve specially created for it, in which every effort is made for its subsequent conservation. The Javan rhinoceros is similar in size and build to the Indian rhinoceros, but its characteristic distinctive feature is complete absence horns in females. Only male Javan rhinoceros have horns. The folds of his thick skin are somewhat reminiscent of knight's armor.
Rhino breeding
Rhinoceroses reach sexual maturity in the 7th year of life. But a male rhinoceros can begin the process of copulation with a female and the process of reproduction only after he has acquired his own territory. Usually this process takes another 2-3 years of life. The mating season for rhinoceroses usually occurs every month and a half; during this period, the male begins an intensive search for a female, which is interesting, when the male is chasing a female rhinoceros, they can even fight. But then the female gives in to the pressure of the male, and mating occurs.
The pregnancy of a female rhinoceros lasts one and a half years, and only one baby is born to her. A newborn rhinoceros weighs 25 kg, but begins to gain weight very quickly. Interestingly, white rhinoceros babies are born with hair. After just a few days, little rhinoceroses are able to follow their mother, and after three months they eat plants. However, during this period, the basis of their diet is mother's milk. For a whole year, a female rhinoceros feeds her children with breast milk. It should also be noted that small rhinos do not have horns, which begin to grow in their 2-3rd year of life.
- Residents of Europe first saw a rhinoceros only in 1513; it was handed over to Portuguese sailors by the Indian Rajah of Cambay. At first, the strange beast was exhibited for the amusement of the crowd, then the Portuguese decided to send it as a gift to the Pope, but on the way on the ship the rhinoceros went berserk, broke through the side of the ship and drowned.
- The World Wildlife Fund WWF has established a special “Rhino Day” which is celebrated on September 22.
- The large woolly rhinoceros Elasmotherium once lived in forests, including our country Ukraine, as well as many other places in Eurasia. Unfortunately, it became extinct 8 thousand years ago.
- The word “rhinoceros” itself appears in the names of many other animals, for example, there is a rhinoceros beetle, a rhinoceros, a hornbill, a rhinoceros iguana, and a rhinoceros fish. They all have horns, which makes them look like our today's hero - the rhinoceros.
Rhinoceros, video
And finally, an interesting video about crazy rhino attacks caught on camera.
There are 5 species of rhinoceroses on Earth: two African - white and black, three Asian - Indian, Javanese and Sumatran, or Asian two-horned. The Asian rhinoceros, like the black rhinoceros of Africa, has an upper lip pointed by a small proboscis. But its most important distinguishing feature is the pointed and elongated incisors of the lower jaw. When attacking, a rhino usually strikes with these incisors, and uses the horn much less often.
They live in Eastern, South-Eastern, South-Western, Central and Southern Africa along the banks of rivers and lakes, as well as in forests and swamps. The rhinoceros is a large animal: it weighs 2 tons, or even more. Animals prefer solitude; each has its own strictly protected territory, its own trails and pastures, as well as favorite places for mud baths.
In order to protect itself from insect pests, the rhinoceros lies in the dirty slurry near the shore all day. After sunset, he goes out to the pasture to eat for the whole next day.
The Javan rhinoceros is considered the rarest mammal species on the planet. Nowadays, a few animals - representatives of the species - live in Southeast Africa (Java Island, Vietnam). Currently there are no more than 70 individuals. The reason for the decline in the number of Javan rhinoceroses was their extermination by humans, who hunted the animals for their horns, which were used to make souvenirs and various crafts.
Javan rhinoceros appearance resembles an Indian one, but is slightly smaller in size. There are also differences in the shape of the anterior folds of skin, and in the fact that only the male has a horn on the nose. The Javan rhinoceros is called the Javan rhinoceros because it lives on the island of Java, or rather, on the small peninsula that ends the western part of the island. In the early 1930s, a reserve was founded in Java, in which, in addition to rhinoceroses, tigers were also especially protected.
Third asian look– The Sumatran two-horned rhinoceros is the smallest of all. He is also named after the island on which he lives. Previously, this type of rhinoceros was found in India and China, and now, in addition to Sumatra, also in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaya and Kalimantan.
The white rhinoceros was not named this way because it is white (its skin is the same dirty gray color as the black one). Some experts claim that it received the name “white” because after mud baths its skin dries out and from a distance looks light gray, almost white. And the black rhinoceros lives in the forest, where the color of the soil is different, and therefore the dried mud on it is much darker. Others say that dirt has nothing to do with it: the word “white” found its way into zoological literature about rhinoceroses because of the consonance English words“white” (“white”) and “wide” (“wide”). The Boers called the white rhinoceros wijd, which means “wide”: its upper lip is very wide, which is why the nostrils are set much wider than those of the black rhinoceros. The Dutch word "wijd" became the English "wide" and then "white".
The white rhinoceros is the second largest land animal (after the elephant): its height is 1.8 m, its weight is 3 tons or more, it even has a horn as long as a small person! But this is a very rare animal.
The survival of white rhinoceroses is not favored by certain biological and environmental reasons. In addition, they have very low fertility. The female gives birth to only one cub, and the pregnancy lasts 18 months.
The Sumatran rhinoceros is primarily known for the fact that its behavior and lifestyle were first described in travel notes, the author of which was the Venetian traveler and discoverer Marco Polo. Rhinoceroses are considered record holders among mammals. IN natural community they are the fourth largest in the world in size, behind such giants of the animal world as whales, elephants and giraffes.
Modern scientists say that once upon a time rhinoceroses inhabited not only African continent, but were also common in Europe and Asia. Now these animals (including the Sumatran rhinoceros) are considered an endangered species and are listed in the Red Book International Union nature conservation.
Currently, the habitat of the Sumatran rhinoceros is the northeastern regions of India, the Malacca Peninsula, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. This species differs from others primarily in appearance. The Sumatran rhinoceros can rightly be called the most “insulated” among rhinoceroses: the entire body of this animal is covered with stiff bristles. And small rhinoceroses from a distance seem to be dressed in warm coats of thick fur.
Rhinoceroses are herbivores, eating grass, branches of trees and shrubs, as well as reeds and other lake and swamp plants that they can find. They are very unpretentious eaters and eat thorns, dry branches and roots. Since rhinoceroses have very powerful jaws, they can easily gnaw and chew branches up to 4 cm in diameter.
These lumps have good hearing and smell, but poor eyesight. In this regard, they maintain a kind of friendship with the sharp-sighted red-beaked Bufagus birds, which like to sit on their broad backs. Having noticed the enemy, the Bufagus begin to scream, and the rhinoceroses take precautions. They communicate with each other using sounds reminiscent of grunting, snoring or snorting. By the way, the latter indicates that the rhinoceros is very irritated.
Male sharp-snouted rhinoceroses tend to live alone. They are looking for a female only in mating season. The female lives with the cub for about 3 years. The baby follows his mother everywhere, who protects and protects him.
Broad-snouted rhinoceroses live in small herds and wander through the savannah, overgrown with bushes and grass. Females carry their young for 490 days. As a rule, only one baby is born. There are approximately 4 thousand broad-snouted rhinoceroses left in the wild.
African rhinoceroses of the Borello and Keytloa breeds are considered the most ferocious. Literally anything can irritate them. In a rage, they destroy and break everything in their path and kill anyone Living being that happened to be on their way.
But despite their ferocity, they are considered the most caring parents. A rhinoceros, without hesitation, can rush to protect the cub, even if there is a tiger in front of her.
Like other big and strong animals Having very few enemies in nature, rhinoceroses turned out to be completely unadapted for effective defense against a man with a gun. They are not particularly worried, which is why the shooter can come within 30 steps of them.
Rhinoceroses sleep very soundly and insensitively. Bernhard Grzimek in his book “Among the Animals of Africa” talks about how Masai boys in the Serengeti reserve, taking into account this feature of rhinoceroses, play the following game: “One boy will quietly creep up to a sleeping rhinoceros and put a stone on its back. The second one must come and pick up this stone. The third and fourth start all over again, and so on until the rhino wakes up.” This game is very dangerous, but the Maasai are far from cowards.
Dr. Grzimek said that young lions like to tease rhinoceroses when playing. They will surround the animal in a ring, then one or the other will run up from behind and, giving the rhinoceros a rather heavy slap on the backside, will bounce off. The bumpkin, naturally, is indignant and irritated by such familiarity, turns abruptly and menacingly, but... there is no one behind him, the lions are already hiding.
In general, lions and rhinoceroses have a fairly peaceful and mutually respectful relationship, that is, they do not knowingly cause harm to each other. Rhinoceroses also remain neutral with elephants. If they meet on a narrow path, then after a frivolous warning from both sides, expressed in a demonstration threatening poses, disperse peacefully. Usually the rhinoceros gives way to the elephant, but it happens that the elephant is the first to step aside.
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The Indian or armored rhinoceros is the largest animal in Asia after the elephant. The body length exceeds 4 m, height - 2 m, weight - 2 tons. These rhinoceroses have only one horn.
photo: Miriam Poling
Rhinoceros skin has no hair and hangs down in thick folds, resembling a shell. Hence the name of this animal - brick rhinoceros.
Black and white rhinoceroses are representatives of the African fauna. They are smaller than Indian ones. Interestingly, black rhinoceroses usually have two horns. But sometimes there are individuals with three and even five horns. The length of the front horn of African rhinoceroses is 60 cm. There is a known case when experts discovered a rhinoceros whose horn was almost 140 cm long.
Despite their apparent slowness, animals can run at a speed of 40 km/hour. and even jump over large ditches. In addition, rhinoceroses can swim well.
photo: Thomas Retterath
For most of their lives, these giants live alone, having their own individual plot, where there must be a pond, a lake or a large puddle, and the plants include elephant grass and reeds. These plants are included in the diet of rhinoceroses. But he also loves aquatic plants.
Apart from humans, the rhinoceros has no enemies. Even powerful elephants retreat before this giant. Predators never attack adults, but babies sometimes become their victims.
photo: Seth Patterson
Interestingly, when female rhinos fight, they use a horn. And the surprising thing is that they don’t stab with it, but fight like sticks.
There are cases when during such duels one of the males loses a horn. But over time, it grows back for him.
Rhinoceroses never run away when other animals or humans appear nearby. But sometimes they behave very aggressively. Experts associate this behavior with their myopia. After all, a rhinoceros cannot distinguish a tree or bush at a distance of 20 m. However, they have a very remarkable sense of smell and hearing.
photo: Safari Partners
Rhinoceroses never leave their territory, even if they suffer from thirst during the dry season, and they never go looking for water, as other animals do.
In addition, rhinoceroses are very picky eaters - even in dry seasons they eat only green leaves - a rarity during this period.
A female rhinoceros, as a rule, gives birth to one child every 3-4 years. Its weight is about 60 kg. It is born looking like a small pink piglet and already has folds and grows like an adult rhinoceros. But the baby has no horns. He will appear later.
Baby for a long time remains with the mother and is considered an adult only at 5 years of age.
Rhinoceroses live for 70 years.
photo: Marc Soller
It is interesting to know that when hunting rhinoceroses, African aborigines use poisonous arrows, rubbing the tip with poison plant origin. And rhinoceroses “learned” to find antidote plants.
As soon as such an arrow overtakes a rhinoceros, he immediately, obeying instinct, looks for life-saving plants.
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Rhinoceroses are the largest animals after elephants that live on the land of our planet. The largest rhinoceros in the world is the white rhinoceros. The dimensions of this giant are impressive: length up to 4.2 m, height up to 2 m, weight 4.5 tons.
Rhinos are herbivores, but can be quite aggressive. Among the animals they have no natural enemies. One look at this powerful beast discourages any desire to attack it. There are 5 species of rhinoceroses in the world, and all of them are very impressive in size.
White rhinoceroses live in Africa. This is the most close-up view these animals. The weight of adult males ranges from 4 to 4.5 tons, body length - up to 4.2 m, height - up to 2 m. Rhinoceroses have a dense build, powerful three-toed legs with hooves and 2 trapezoid-shaped horns pointing upward. Front long horn(up to 60 cm) helps them push bushes apart, and the wide, keratinized lower lip makes it possible to bite the grass at the very root. Despite the fact that this animal is called a white rhinoceros, its skin is gray, strong and rough. He sees poorly, but hears perfectly and perceives smells subtly.
Male rhinoceroses often fight among themselves and even kill each other when competing for females. Females remain pregnant for 15 months and give birth to one baby every 2-3 years. White rhinoceroses do not attack people; they usually run away when they see a person. Despite their heaviness, these animals can run fast, reaching speeds of up to 35 km/h. In nature wild rhinos live up to 30-50 years.
Most of these animals live in South Africa, but they are found in Namibia and Botswana. With the advent firearms The white rhino population was almost wiped out. They were mined to use their horns for medicinal purposes and as trophies for hunting. Now African states have taken hunting under their control, and rhinoceroses have the opportunity to reproduce intensively. The white rhinoceros rivals the hippopotamus in size. Even the photo shows what an impressive and formidable animal it is.
The second largest species is the black rhinoceros. Its skin color is darker than that of a white rhinoceros, its skin is dark gray. This is a large animal up to 3 m long, weighing up to 2 tons and up to 1.5 m high. The black rhino often has 2, and sometimes 3-5 rounded horns (as in Zambia) up to 60 cm long, which are directed forward. With its trunk-shaped lip, this animal picks off the leaves on which it feeds. The body of this animal is more elongated and not as heavy as that of a white rhinoceros.
This species of rhinoceros lives in the Eastern and Central Africa. Likes to settle in the bush closer to the water. It feeds in the evening, and in the heat it sleeps under the trees. These animals do not migrate and live in one area all their lives. They are loners and live in a family consisting of a mother and cub.
Black rhinoceroses rarely fight among themselves; their attacker is the female. A black rhinoceros can suddenly attack a person, and runs at speeds of up to 48 km/h. Therefore, safari participants must be very careful. Black rhinoceroses have suffered significantly from poachers hunting for their horns, which have been erroneously attributed medicinal properties. But now their population has been restored.
This animal is large and powerful. The most large males found weighing up to 2 tons, size at the withers up to 2 m, body length up to 2.8 m. The Indian rhinoceros has a pinkish-gray, sometimes knobby skin that hangs down like a shell. This gives it the appearance of a prehistoric animal. There are tufts of hair on the tail and ears.
Powerful legs with three toes have horny endings. The upper lip of the animal is straight, slightly curved down. This rhinoceros has large incisors on its lower jaw, which it uses to protect itself from predators. It has one horn, up to 25 cm in size. Females often have a small bump on their nose instead of a horn. The rhinoceros sees poorly, but hears and smells very well. Therefore, it is difficult to get close to him.
He loves to wallow in mud, lakes and swamps and finds food there. In the water, on the back of a rhinoceros, you can see birds cleaning its skin from insects and ticks. On the shore indian rhinos Skirmishes with buffaloes often occur. Rhinoceroses have their own territory and strive to protect it from competitors. Previously, these giants were found throughout Asia. Now they live only in reserves of Pakistan, India and Nepal.
This is very rare view, there are up to 100 individuals in total; they do not breed in captivity. Length up to 3 m, height up to 1.8 meters, exact weight unknown. This animal has one horn (length up to 20 cm). The Javan rhinoceros today lives only in tropical forests Me you. Previously it was distributed in East Asia, India and southern China.
This is a herbivore and can be seen very rarely. Javan rhinoceroses were exterminated by poachers, and their usual habitats were inhabited by people. During the Vietnam War, the habitat of these animals was destroyed.
5. Sumatran rhinoceros. This is the smallest of the rhinoceroses. Body length 250–300 cm, height up to 120 cm, weight from 800 to 2000 kg. This animal has 2 horns, one up to 25 cm, the second is almost completely invisible. The body is covered with reddish-brown hair. This species, like the Javanese, is in danger of extinction. Today, these rhinoceroses live in Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Such rhinoceroses feed on tree shoots, leaves and fruits. They need salt for digestion, so animals look for salt marshes. They swim well and run fast. There are less than 300 representatives of this species left in nature.
Rhinoceroses are amazing giants that have lived on Earth for millions of years. The largest rhinoceros in the world is the white rhinoceros. This is an animal that weighs up to 4.5 tons and looks like an armed fortress. Its relatives also have impressive sizes, and can also develop significant speed when moving. But these formidable animals have been almost exterminated by humans. All 5 species of rhinoceroses will soon disappear from the face of the Earth if people do not take care of their protection.