Rhinoceros unicornis

Habitat

Open grasslands and wetlands along rivers

Conservation status

Vulnerable. The species is at risk from habitat loss due to agriculture and development. In addition, like other rhino species, these animals are subject to intense poaching for their horns. Although rhino horn — like hair or fingernails — is primarily composed of keratin, it is worth its weight in gold on the black market: in Asia, in particular, it is prized as a remedy for numerous ailments, even including cancer.

Biology

Greater one-horned rhinos are solitary animals; cows and bulls only come together to mate. A calf will be abandoned by the mother after about three years, when the next calf is born.