The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and Indian one-horned rhinoceros,

belongs to theRhinocerotidae family. Listed as a vulnerable species, the large mammal is primarily found in north-eastern India's Assam and in protected areas in theTerai of Nepal, where populations are confined to the riverine grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayas.[2] The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting reduced the natural habitat drastically. Today, about 3,000 rhinos live in the wild, 2,000 of which are found in India's Assam alone.[3] It is the fifth largest land animal. Characteristics[edit] Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, the Indian rhinoceros is second in size only to the Asian elephant. This heavily built species is also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the white rhinoceros. Males have an average head and body length of 368380 cm (12.0712.5 ft) with a shoulder height of 163193 cm (5.356.33 ft), while females have an average head and body length of 310340 cm (10.2 11.2 ft) and a shoulder height of 147173 cm (4.825.68 ft).[4][verification needed] The weights of captive individuals from the Basel Zoo were around 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) on average for the females and around 2,100 kg (4,600 lb) on average for the males. The skull is heavy with a basal length above 60 cm (24 in) and an occiputabove 19 cm (7.5 in).[5] The largest sized specimens can range up to 4,000 kg (8,800 lb).[6] The rhino's single horn is present in both males and females, but not on newborn young. The black horn is purekeratin, like human fingernails, and starts to show after about six years. In most adults, the horn reaches a length of about 25 cm (9.8 in), but has been recorded up to 57.2 cm (22.5 in) in length.[7] The nasal horn is slightly back-curved with a base of about 18.5 cm (7.3 in) by 12 cm (4.7 in) that rapidly narrows until a smooth, even stem part begins about 55 mm (2.2 in) above base. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob.[5] The Indian rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin, which becomes pinkish near the large skin folds that cover its body. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. It has very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush. Males develop thick neck folds.[5] Distribution and habitat[edit] One-horned rhinos once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus,Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Burmese border, including parts of Nepal,Bangladesh and Bhutan. They may have also existed in Myanmar, southern China and Indochina.They prefer the alluvial plain grasslands of the Terai and Brahmaputra basin.[8] As a result of habitat destruction and climatic changes their range has gradually been reduced so that by the 19th century, they only survived in the Teraigrasslands of southern Nepal, northern Uttar Pradesh, northern Bihar, northern Bengal, and in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam.[9] On the former abundance of the species, Thomas C. Jerdon wrote in 1867:[10] This huge rhinoceros is found in the Terai at the foot of the Himalayas, from Bhotan to Nepal. It is more common in the eastern portion of the Terai than the west, and is most abundant in Assam and the Bhotan Dooars. I have heard from sportsmen of its occurrence as far west as Rohilcund, but it is certainly rare there now, and indeed along the greater part of the Nepal Terai; ... Jelpigoree, a small military station near the Teesta River, was a favourite locality whence to hunt the Rhinoceros and it was from that station Captain Fortescue ... got his skulls, which were ... the first that Mr. Blyth had seen of this species, ... Today, their range has further shrunk to a few pockets in southern Nepal, northern Bengal, and the Brahmaputra Valley. In the 1980s, rhinos were frequently seen in the narrow plain area of Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. Today, they are restricted to habitats surrounded by human-dominated landscapes, so that they often occur in adjacent cultivated areas, pastures, and secondary forests.[9] Rhinos are regionally extinct in Pakistan.[11]