Rhino 30cm - Cuddly Toy

Physical Characteristics
Both black and white rhinoceroses are actually gray. They are different not in color but in lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip, while its white relative has a squared lip. The difference in lip shape is related to the animals' diets. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches (eight centimeters) a year, and have been known to grow up to 1.5m long and weigh between 800 to 1400 kg! Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.

Habitat
Two species of rhino are found on the plains of Africa and three to southern asia.

Behaviour
Rhinos are also wallowers. They often find a suitable water hole and roll in its mud, coating their skin with a natural bug repellent and sun block. Black rhinos are browsers that get most of their sustenance from eating trees and bushes. They use their lips to pluck leaves and fruit from the branches.

Breeding
Females rhinos reproduce only every two and a half to five years. Their single calf does not live on its own until it is about three years old.

Diet
Black rhinos mainly eat trees and bushes whereas white rhinos tend to favour grasses.

Strange and Interesting Facts
The rhino is prized for its horn. The horns of a rhinoceros are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails. The collective noun for a group of rhinoceros is crash or herd!