Squeaks and I were just learning about a really cool animal!
See if you can guess what it is:
It’s really big…
it’s got four legs… a little tail… and a big horn on its nose…
That’s right!
It’s a rhinoceros, or a rhino for short!
They’re awesome animals!
But there aren’t a lot of them left in the world.
Did you know that there’s more than one type of rhinoceros?
It’s true!
There are 5 types of rhino, and they all live in either Africa or Asia.
But all rhinos have a few things in common: for starters, they’re huge!
The white rhino, which lives in Africa, is the biggest type of rhino.
A white rhino can weigh more than 2,000 kilograms — that’s heavier than a car!
Even the smallest type of rhino, the Sumatran rhino, can weigh close to a thousand kilograms.
And they can live for a long time!
In the wild, a rhino can live to be between 45 and 50 years old!
Rhinoceroses are also herbivores, which means they only eat plants, like fruits and grass.
Some rhinos even knock down /whole trees/ so they can get to the leaves and twigs at
the top.
What’s another thing all rhinos have in common?
Here’s a hint: it’s easy to see when you look at them.
That’s right, Squeaks!
They all have those big horns on their noses.
Rhinoceros horns are made of a material called keratin, which is the same stuff that your
hair and fingernails are made of!
Some rhinos, like the black rhino, have two horns, and some, like the Javan rhino, have
one.
Rhinos use their horns to protect their babies from predators and to defend their territory,
or the place where they live, from other rhinoceroses.
Most types of rhinos live alone or with their babies, called calves, and each rhino has
its own territory.
And they mark the edges or their territory in a fun way: with their poop!
A rhino will pick a few places around the outside of their territory where they will
always go to poop.
When they’re done, the rhino will kick the poop around, spreading a smell in the air
that tells other rhinos to stay away!
There’s one more thing most rhinos have in common: almost all types of rhinos are
endangered, meaning that there aren’t a lot of them left.
There are only about 50 Javan rhinos left, for example, and they all live in one small
part of Indonesia.
Someday, most types of rhinos might go extinct — meaning that there won’t be any alive
at all.
Other animals don’t really attack rhinoceroses, but they’re still in danger for two main
reasons.
One reason is that they don’t have as many places to live anymore, because people keep
cutting down the trees where they used to live.
Another problem is that some people hunt and kill rhinos because their horns are worth
a lot of money.
But a lot of people are trying to help the rhinos in different ways, like by making it
illegal to hunt them and protecting the places they live.
And in some places, it’s working!
Black and Indian rhino populations are slowly growing again.
But for other types of rhinos, like the Javan rhino, there’s still lots of work to do
if we want to keep these amazing animals around.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of SciShow Kids!
If you have questions about rhinos or any other animal, grab a grownup and leave a comment
below or send us an email at kids@scishow.com.
We’ll see you next time here at the fort!