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| Thai Wildlife > Rare or Extinct |
Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros
Species: Rhinoceros sondaicus (Desmarest, 1822)
Synonyms: Rhinoceros ineffilis (Lesson, 1840); Rhinoceros floweri (Gray, 1867)
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Common names: Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros; Javan Rhinoceros
Rhinos have three toes on their hooves. The middle toe is bigger than the other two on the sides.
The distinguishing characteristic is the presence of the nose horn. The word Rhinoceros means animal having a nose horn.
It is a large animal with short legs and has three partitions in each hoof.
The rhinoceros has small eyes like that of a pig with standing ears and the skin is covered with small knobs.
The animal has three large ridges on the skin located at the shoulder, waist, and front of the pair of front legs. This gives the animal an appearance of wearing armor. The animal has very few hairs on the body.
There is no indication of a bone in the tail-like the Indian Rhinoceros and the Sumatran Rhinoceros.
The mouth is beak-like.
The male rhinoceros has a horn that reaches about 15 centimeters in length. The female only have a small hump.
The size of a rhinoceros ranges from a height at the shoulders of 1.6-1.7 meters. The length is about 3.0-3.2 meters. The tail is 0.7 meters long while the body weight ranges from 1,500-2,000 kilograms.
Habitat ranges from Bangladesh to the mainland Southeast Asia and the Sumatra and Java islands of Indonesia.
The rhinoceros is believed to be extinct from mainland Southeast Asia and can only be found at the National Forest Reserve Udjung Kulon, Indonesia.
They live in the tropical evergreen forest near water sources where they can bathe and play in the mud all day.
Eyesight is not good, however supplemented by a very keen sense of smell and hearing. The rhinoceros eats leaves and fruits that fall on the forest floor.
Reproduction age for the male is six years and the female is at three years and it can mate all year round. The mother gives birth to one offspring at a time and carries the foal for 16 months. The young is born with a horn and the mother will care for young for two years.
Reason for extinction on the mainland is that they have been hunted for their horn, meat, and blood. It is believed that eating the rhinoceros will give good health and improve sexual potency. However, medical analysis has found that none of these properties exist. Another reason is the massive destruction of the tropical evergreen forest.
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