Indian rhinoceros: biological armored vehicle (11 photos)

He is the master of impenetrable thickets and swamps deep in the jungles of Asia. He is the brother of the woolly giants of the past. He is the owner of a half-meter horn on his face and powerful leathery armor all over his body. Meet the Indian rhinoceros - one of the most dangerous animals of the East!





Stop praising me, I'm embarrassed!

In India, Nepal and Pakistan, rhinos are considered on par with elephants and tigers. There are two reasons for this. The first is their size. The average weight of the animal is two tons. Not average - up to four tons. And despite their immodest size, cuckolds are agile and fast. If desired, the animal can reach a speed of 55 km/ h! This is 11 km/ h faster than the record speed of a person - there is no point in running away.



The only way to stay safe near the animal is to sit in the car.

If you are so crazy that you decided to attack - rest easy for you. It is not for nothing that the skin of a rhinoceros is shaped like armor, it is truly impenetrable. Its thickness is up to 5 centimeters! For clarity: the thickness of human skin is a maximum of 5 mm. The rhinoceros is also equipped for attack: a powerful horn grows up to 55 cm. Maybe not as long as its African relatives, but no less effective. Especially when you run with it to ram.





Whose rhinoceros? Why without a muzzle?!

But what rhinoceroses are not very good at is vision and anger control. And this is the second reason why you should be afraid of the Indian unicorn. The rhinoceros will not look at who is coming. He will just go and check! And it would be fine if the beasts only raged in their native jungles - they have the right to chase tigers and sort things out with elephants. But no, rhinos periodically come out into the city and cause a stir in the concrete jungle.



Are there any chips on sale?

By law, you can't touch the animals, so the giants have carte blanche to run wild! They terrorize cars on the highways and tourists on the streets. Just last year, the beast attacked a group of people and injured two at once. And when local nature lovers tried to calm him down, the rhino gave them a good beating, so the rangers had to be hospitalized. Therefore, it is highly recommended not to approach, drive up to or otherwise get close to Indian rhinos.



Yes, I know I'm driving on the wrong side of the road. What are you going to do to me?

The situation becomes even more frightening during the breeding season. The already vicious rhinoceros men become furious to the point of frenzy. Having found the lady of the heart by scent, the contenders for the horn and heart arrange bloody battles. Moreover, they inflict wounds on each other with their teeth! Unfortunately for the population, such showdowns often end in the death of the loser. Fights between males are one of the most common causes of death among Indian rhinos in general.



In captivity, males become sexually mature at 5 years. But in the wild, they have the opportunity to reproduce much later. Youngsters are simply not able to overcome mature and experienced competitors, and they have to flee for a long time.

Pregnancy in Indian rhinoceroses lasts about 16 months. And after such a long wait, only one baby is born! Only the mother invests in raising her offspring, devoting the next 4 years of her life exclusively to the baby. Sometimes the young stay with their mother longer, preferring a friendly family group to loneliness.



Keep your eyes peeled!

Yes, when the heat of passion subsides and the veil of madness clears, it turns out that these powerful giants communicate with each other very nicely! The animals gather in herds of up to 10 individuals: females, their cubs and one sexually mature male. Together they graze, communicate and even play!



Such fights are not always serious battles. Young rhinos often fight each other while playing.

Rhinoceroses also love to swim. They spend most of the day relaxing in warm puddles and small lakes. Splashing in ponds is a necessity. This is how giants hide from annoying insects and heat. Folds in the skin help the animals retain moisture and cool down: it is not only armor, but also a very effective radiator made of thick skin.



By covering itself in mud, the rhinoceros protects itself from the ubiquitous parasites of the jungle.

It is ironic that the closest relatives of the Indian rhinoceros, on the contrary, kept warm as best they could. Studies have shown that Asian rhinoceroses (Javanese, Indian and Sumatran) are little related to African species. The woolly rhinoceros is their closest relative!



Did you have any doubts? Look, even the ears are fluffy!

Alas, the colonization of Asia by Europeans did not spare even such temperamental giants. In the 19th century, sport hunting for the Indian rhinoceros became commonplace. As a result, by the beginning of the 20th century, only 200 individuals remained in the wild! The only way to save the animals was by using the same brutal methods that the rhinos themselves use.



Well, show me where those poachers are? Let's give them hell together!

For example, in Nepal, in the Chitwan National Park, a special patrol of 130 armed people was created and a network of posts was organized to protect the park from poachers. And in the Kaziranga National Park in India, all rangers were given weapons and allowed to shoot to kill without warning any random person who would wander around the park with a weapon. It was cruel, but they managed to save them - now there are about 4,000 Indian rhinos in the wild!