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119-475: The Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ), also known as the Sumatran rhino , hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros , is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros ; it is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus . It is the smallest rhinoceros, although it is still a large mammal; it stands 112–145 cm (44–57 in) high at

238-500: A demand for rhino horns with unproven medicinal properties. The rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, which the Sumatran rhino inhabits, are also targets for legal and illegal logging because of the desirability of their hardwoods. Rare woods such as merbau , meranti and semaram are valuable on the international markets, fetching as much as $ 1,800 per m ($ 1,375 per cu yd). Enforcement of illegal-logging laws

357-435: A herbivorous diet, small brains 400–600 g (14–21 oz) for mammals of their size, one or two horns, and a thick 1.5–5 cm (0.59–1.97 in), protective skin formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter when necessary. Unlike other perissodactyls ,

476-786: A Sumatran rhinoceros (of the Bornean rhinoceros subspecies) was spotted in Indonesian Borneo . The Indonesian ministry of Environment, began an official counting of the Sumatran rhino in February 2019, planned to be completed in three years. Malaysia's last known bull and cow Sumatran rhinos died in May and November 2019, respectively. The species is now considered to be locally extinct in that country, and only survives in Indonesia. There are fewer than 80 left in existence. The first documented Sumatran rhinoceros

595-713: A barrel chest and lived until about five million years ago. The last rhinos in the Americas became extinct during the Pliocene . Modern rhinos are thought to have begun dispersal from Asia during the Miocene . Alongside the extant species, four additional species of rhinoceros survived into the Last Glacial Period : the woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ), Elasmotherium sibiricum and two species of Stephanorhinus , Merck's rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis ) and

714-548: A bull and cow in 1872 that had been captured in Chittagong in 1868. The female named "Begum" survived until 1900, the record lifetime for a captive rhino. Begum was one of at least seven specimens of the extinct subspecies D. s. lasiotis that were held in zoos and circuses. In 1972, Subur, the only Sumatran rhino remaining in captivity, died at the Copenhagen Zoo . Despite the species' persistent lack of reproductive success, in

833-578: A calf, but calves stay close to their mothers, and the frequency of such killings is unknown. Although the rhino's range overlaps with elephants and tapirs , the species do not appear to compete for food or habitat. Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) and Sumatran rhinos are even known to share trails, and many smaller species, such as deer, boars, and wild dogs, will use the trails the rhinos and elephants create. The Sumatran rhino maintains two types of trails across its range. Main trails will be used by generations of rhinos to travel between important areas in

952-403: A day. Primarily by measuring dung samples, researchers have identified more than 100 food species consumed by the Sumatran rhinoceros. The largest portion of the diet is tree saplings with a trunk diameter of 1–6 cm (0.39–2.36 in). The rhinoceros typically pushes these saplings over with its body, walking over the sapling without stepping on it, to eat the leaves. Many of the plant species

1071-638: A distortion of either the Afrikaans word wyd or the Dutch word wijd (or its other possible spellings whyde , weit , etc.,), meaning "wide" and referring to the rhino's square lips, is not supported by linguistic studies. The white rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. Females weigh 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) and males 2,400 kg (5,300 lb) on average, though exceptional specimens can reportedly weigh up to 4,500 kg (9,900 lb). The head-and-body length

1190-759: A few pairs in Uttar Pradesh ) and Nepal, plus a pair in Lal Suhanra National Park in Pakistan reintroduced there from Nepal. They are confined to the tall grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas . Two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses are now confined to the Kaziranga National Park situated in the Golaghat district of Assam , India. The Javan rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros sondaicus )

1309-561: A folk belief that the horns offer some protection against poison. Dried rhinoceros meat was used as medicine for diarrhea , leprosy , and tuberculosis . "Rhino oil", a concoction made from leaving a rhino's skull in coconut oil for several weeks, may be used to treat skin diseases. The extent of use and belief in these practices is not known. Rhinoceros horn was once believed to be widely used as an aphrodisiac ; in fact traditional Chinese medicine never used it for this purpose. Nevertheless, hunting in this species has primarily been driven by

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1428-684: A general trend of decline over the course of the Middle to Late Pleistocene with an estimated peak effective population size of 57,800 individuals 950,000 years ago, declining to around 500–1,300 individuals at the start of the Holocene, with a slight rebound during the Eemian Interglacial . This was likely due to climate change causing limiting suitable habitat for the Rhinoceros, causing severe population fluctuations as well as population fragmentation due to

1547-705: A germinative layer. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The ICZN is governed by the "Constitution of the ICZN", which is usually published together with the ICZN Code . Members are elected by the Section of Zoological Nomenclature, established by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS). The regular term of service of a member of the Commission is six years. Members can be re-elected up to

1666-400: A great distance, even in the dense brush in which the Sumatran rhino lives. A vocalization of similar volume from elephants has been shown to carry 9.8 km (6.1 mi) and the whistle-blow may carry as far. The Sumatran rhinoceros will sometimes twist the saplings they do not eat. This twisting behavior is believed to be used as a form of communication, frequently indicating a junction in

1785-414: A particular wallow, the rhino will abandon it. Typically, the rhino will wallow around midday for two to three hours at a time before venturing out for food. Although in zoos the Sumatran rhino has been observed wallowing less than 45 minutes a day, the study of wild animals found 80–300 minutes (an average of 166 minutes) per day spent in wallows. There has been little opportunity to study epidemiology in

1904-688: A secluded area, and becomes aggressive towards other rhinoceroses for a while after giving birth. Calves typically stand up within 30 minutes of birth and being to suck on their mothers teats within 2 hours of birth. The mother generally has a strong bond with her most recently born calf. The calf generally remains close to its mother the majority of the time, although at least in some species they are sometimes left considerable distances away. Up until they are around 3 years old, juvenile rhinoceroses are vulnerable to predation. Mothers are vigorously protective of their calves against potential predators. Juvenile one-horned rhinoceroses are rejected by their mothers around

2023-461: A single horn 20 to 60 cm long. It is nearly as large as the African white rhino. Its thick, silver-brown skin folds into the shoulder, back, and rump, giving it an armored appearance. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart -like bumps, and it has very little body hair. Grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500–3,200 kg (5,500–7,100 lb). Shoulder height

2142-692: A total of three full six-year terms in a row. After 18 continuous years of elected service, a break of at least three years is prescribed before the member can stand again for election. Since 2014, the work of the Commission is supported by a small secretariat based at the National University of Singapore , in Singapore . Previously, the secretariat was based in London and funded by the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature . The Commission assists

2261-473: A trail. Cows become sexually mature at the age of six to seven years, while bulls become sexually mature at about 10 years old. The gestation period is around 15–16 months. The calf, which typically weighs 40–60 kg (88–132 lb), is weaned after about 15 months and stays with its mother for the first two to three years of its life. In the wild, the birth interval for this species is estimated to be four to five years; its natural offspring-rearing behavior

2380-477: A variety of reasons until the first successful captive birth in 2001; studies of these failures at the Cincinnati Zoo discovered the Sumatran rhino's ovulation is induced by mating and it had unpredictable progesterone levels. Breeding success was finally achieved in 2001, 2004, and 2007 by providing a pregnant rhino with supplementary progestin . In 2016, a calf was born in captivity in western Indonesia, only

2499-463: Is 1.75–2.0 m (5.7–6.6 ft). Females weigh about 1,900 kg (4,200 lb) and are 3–4 m (9.8–13 ft) long. The record-sized specimen was approximately 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Indian rhinos once inhabited many areas ranging from Pakistan to Myanmar and maybe even parts of China. Because of humans, they now exist in only several protected areas of India (in Assam , West Bengal, and

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2618-448: Is 3.5–4.6 m (11–15 ft) and the shoulder height is 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft). On its snout it has two horns . The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). The white rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey. Most of its body hair

2737-439: Is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae ; it can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species of the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea . Two of the extant species are native to Africa, and three to South and Southeast Asia. Rhinoceroses are some of the largest remaining megafauna : all weigh at least one tonne in adulthood. They have

2856-735: Is being used in an attempt to revitalize the rhino's population and reverse extinction in the country. As of 2023, there has been two births at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia. Sumatran rhinos are solitary creatures except for pairing before mating and during offspring rearing. Individuals have home ranges; bulls have territories as large as 50 km (19 sq mi), whereas cows' ranges are 10–15 km (3.9–5.8 sq mi). The ranges of cows appear to be spaced apart; bulls' ranges often overlap. No evidence indicates Sumatran rhinos defend their territories through fighting. Marking their territories

2975-639: Is believed to be closely related to the extinct woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ) and Stephanorhinus , with the split between their last common ancestors estimated to be around 9.5 million years ago. The woolly rhinoceros, so named for the coat of hair it shares with the Sumatran rhinoceros, first appeared in China; by the Upper Pleistocene , it ranged across the Eurasian continent from Korea to Spain. The woolly rhinoceros survived until its extinction near

3094-570: Is bought by wealthy consumers to use in traditional Chinese medicine , among other uses. Rhino horns are made of keratin , the same material as hair and fingernails , and there is no good evidence of any health benefits. A market also exists for rhino horn dagger handles in Yemen, which was the major source of demand for rhino horn in the 1970s and 1980s. Ceratotherium simum Diceros bicornis Dicerorhinus sumatrensis Rhinoceros sondaicus Rhinoceros unicornis The word rhinoceros

3213-586: Is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek : ῥινόκερως , which is composed of ῥινο- ( rhino- , "of the nose") and κέρας ( keras , " horn ") with a horn on the nose. The name has been in use since the 14th century. The family Rhinocerotidae consists of only four extant genera: Ceratotherium (white rhinoceros), Diceros (black rhinoceros), Dicerorhinus (Sumatran rhinoceros), and Rhinoceros (Indian and Javan rhinoceros). The living species fall into three categories. The two African species,

3332-513: Is difficult because humans live within or near many of the same forests as the rhino. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake has been used to justify new logging. Although the hardwoods in the rainforests of the Sumatran rhino are destined for international markets and not widely used in domestic construction, the number of logging permits for these woods has increased dramatically because of the tsunami. However, while this species has been suggested to be highly sensitive to habitat disturbance, apparently it

3451-411: Is done by scraping soil with their feet, bending saplings into distinctive patterns, and leaving excrement. The Sumatran rhino is usually most active when eating, at dawn, and just after dusk. During the day, they wallow in mud baths to cool down and rest. In the rainy season , they move to higher elevations; in the cooler months, they return to lower areas in their range. When mud holes are unavailable,

3570-590: Is fast and agile; it climbs mountains easily and comfortably traverses steep slopes and riverbanks. The Sumatran rhinoceros lives in both lowland and highland secondary rainforest , swamps, and cloud forests . It inhabits hilly areas close to water, particularly steep upper valleys with copious undergrowth. The Sumatran rhinoceros once inhabited a continuous range as far north as Myanmar , eastern India , and Bangladesh . Unconfirmed reports also placed it in Cambodia , Laos , and Vietnam . All known living animals occur in

3689-506: Is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles, with the rest distributed rather sparsely over the rest of the body. White rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth that is used for grazing. The name "black rhinoceros" ( Diceros bicornis ) was chosen to distinguish this species from the white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ). This can be confusing, as the two species are not truly distinguishable by color. There are four subspecies of black rhino: South-central ( Diceros bicornis minor ),

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3808-474: Is much better studied than the similarly reclusive Javan rhinoceros , in part because of a program that brought 40 Sumatran rhinos into captivity with the goal of preserving the species. There was little or no information about procedures that would assist in ex situ breeding. Though a number of rhinos died once at the various destinations and no offspring were produced for nearly 20 years, the rhinos were all doomed in their soon-to-be-logged forest. In March 2016,

3927-517: Is named after Tom Harrisson , who worked extensively with Bornean zoology and anthropology in the 1960s. The Bornean subspecies is markedly smaller in body size than the other two subspecies. The captive population consisted of one bull and two cows at the Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary in Sabah; the bull died in 2019 and the cows died in 2017 and 2019 respectively. D. s. lasiotis , known as

4046-585: Is noted between the western Sumatran and Bornean rhinos. The rhinos in Peninsular Malaysia were once known as D. s. niger , but were later recognized to be a synonym of D. s. sumatrensis . Three bulls and five cows currently live in captivity at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas, the youngest bull having been bred and born there in 2012. Another calf, a female, was born at the sanctuary in May 2016. The sanctuary's two bulls were born at

4165-603: Is of little importance compared to hunting, as it can withstand more or less any forest condition. Nevertheless, the main cause of drastic reduction of the species is likely caused by the Allee effect . The Bornean rhino in Sabah was confirmed to be extinct in the wild in April 2015, with only 3 individuals left in captivity. The mainland Sumatran rhino in Malaysia was confirmed to be extinct in

4284-553: Is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world. According to 2015 estimates, only about 60 remain, in Java, Indonesia, all in the wild. It is also the least known rhino species. Like the closely related, and larger, Indian rhinoceros , the Javan rhino has a single horn. Its hairless, hazy gray skin falls into folds into the shoulder, back, and rump, giving it an armored appearance. Its length reaches 3.1–3.2 m (10–10 ft) including

4403-726: Is reported of Zimbabwe, while Nepal has largely avoided the crisis. Poachers have become more sophisticated. South African officials have called for urgent action against poaching after poachers killed the last female rhino in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve near Johannesburg . Statistics from South African National Parks show that 333 rhinoceroses were killed in South Africa in 2010, increasing to 668 by 2012, over 1,004 in 2013, and over 1,338 killed in 2015. In some cases rhinos are tranquilized and their horns removed leaving them to bleed to death, while in other instances more than

4522-432: Is the most vocal of the rhinoceros species. Observations of the species in zoos show the animal almost constantly vocalizing, and it is known to do so in the wild, as well. The rhino makes three distinct noises: eeps, whales , and whistle-blows. The eep, a short, one-second-long yelp, is the most common sound. The whale, named for its similarity to vocalizations of the humpback whale , is the most song-like vocalization and

4641-497: Is the smallest extant rhinoceros species, as well as the one with the most hair. It can be found at very high altitudes in Borneo and Sumatra . Because of habitat loss and poaching , their numbers have declined, and it has become the second most threatened rhinoceros. About 275 Sumatran rhinos are believed to remain. There are three subspecies of Sumatran rhinoceros: the Sumatran rhinoceros proper ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis ),

4760-519: Is unstudied. The reproductive habits of the Sumatran rhinoceros have been studied in captivity. Sex relationships begin with a courtship period characterized by increased vocalization, tail raising, urination , and increased physical contact, with both bull and cow using their snouts to bump the other in the head and genitals. The pattern of courtship is most similar to that of the black rhinoceros . Young Sumatran rhino bulls are often too aggressive with cows, sometimes injuring and even killing them during

4879-418: Is usually a reddish brown. In the wild, this hair is hard to observe because the rhinos are often covered in mud. In captivity, however, the hair grows out and becomes much shaggier, likely because of less abrasion from walking through vegetation. The rhino has a patch of long hair around its ears and a thick clump of hair at the end of its tail. Like all rhinos, they have very poor vision. The Sumatran rhinoceros

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4998-504: The northern Sumatran rhinoceros or Chittagong rhinoceros , which once roamed India and Bangladesh, has been declared extinct in these countries. Unconfirmed reports suggest a small population may still survive in Myanmar, but the political situation in that country has prevented verification. The name lasiotis is derived from the Greek for "hairy-ears". Later studies showed that their ear hair

5117-580: The western Sumatran rhinoceros , which has only 75 to 85 rhinos remaining, mostly in the national parks of Bukit Barisan Selatan and Kerinci Seblat , Gunung Leuser in Sumatra, but also in Way Kambas National Park in small numbers. They have recently gone extinct in Peninsular Malaysia . The main threats against this subspecies are habitat loss and poaching . A slight genetic difference

5236-522: The Barisan Mountains along the length of Sumatra, for rhinos in eastern Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia are more closely related than the rhinos on the other side of the mountains in western Sumatra. In fact, the eastern Sumatra and Malaysia rhinos show so little genetic variance, the populations were likely not separate during the Pleistocene , when sea levels were much lower and Sumatra formed part of

5355-539: The Bornean rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni ) and the possibly extinct Northern Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis ). A mature rhino typically stands about 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) high at the shoulder, has a length of 2.4–3.2 m (7 ft 10 in – 10 ft 6 in) and weighs around 700 kg (1,500 lb), though the largest individuals have been known to weigh as much as 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Like

5474-651: The Cincinnati Zoo have been observed copulating for 30–50 minutes, similar in length to other rhinos; observations at the Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Centre in Malaysia have shown a briefer copulation cycle. As the Cincinnati Zoo has had successful pregnancies, and other rhinos also have lengthy copulatory periods, a lengthy rut may be the natural behavior. Though researchers observed successful conceptions, all these pregnancies ended in failure for

5593-654: The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden . A third calf female was born in March 2022. D. s. harrissoni , known as the Bornean rhinoceros or eastern Sumatran rhinoceros , which was once common throughout Borneo; now only about 15 individuals are estimated to survive. The known population lives in East Kalimantan , with them having recently gone extinct in Sabah . Reports of animals surviving in Sarawak are unconfirmed. This subspecies

5712-758: The Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros , which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only surviving representative of the Dicerorhinini. A subspecific hybrid white rhino ( Ceratotherium s. simum × C. s. cottoni ) was bred at the Dvůr Králové Zoo (Zoological Garden Dvur Kralove nad Labem) in the Czech Republic in 1977. Interspecific hybridisation of black and white rhinoceroses has also been confirmed. While

5831-599: The Narrow-nosed rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus hemitoechus) . The woolly rhinoceros appeared in China around 1   million years ago and first arrived in Europe around 600,000 years ago. It reappeared 200,000 years ago, alongside the woolly mammoth , and became numerous. Elasmotherium was two meters tall, five meters long and weighed around five tons, with a single enormous horn, hypsodont teeth and long legs for running. The latest known well dated bones of Elasmotherium in found in

5950-401: The northern white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni ). As of 2013, the southern subspecies has a wild population of 20,405—making them the most abundant rhino subspecies in the world. The northern subspecies is critically endangered, with all that is known to remain being two captive females. There is no conclusive explanation of the name "white rhinoceros". A popular idea that "white" is

6069-476: The white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros , belong to the tribe Dicerotini, which originated in the middle Miocene , about 14.2   million years ago. The species diverged during the early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago). The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths – white rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing, whereas black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. There are two living Rhinocerotini species,

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6188-632: The 1930s they were nearly hunted to extinction in Nepal, India, Burma, Peninsular Malaysia , and Sumatra for the supposed medical powers of their horns and blood. As of 2015, only 58–61 individuals remain in Ujung Kulon National Park , Java, Indonesia. The last known Javan rhino in Vietnam was reportedly killed for its horn in 2011 by Vietnamese poachers. Now only Java contains the last Javan rhinos. The Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis )

6307-419: The 20th century, their numbers were severely reduced from an estimated 70,000 in the late 1960s to a record low of 2,410 in 1995. Since then, numbers have been steadily increasing at a continental level with numbers doubling to 4,880 by the end of 2010. As of 2008, the numbers are still 90% lower than three generations ago. The Indian rhinoceros , or greater one-horned rhinoceros, ( Rhinoceros unicornis ) has

6426-477: The African species, it has two horns; the larger is the front (25–79 centimetres (9.8–31.1 in)), with the smaller usually less than 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long. Males have much larger horns than the females. Hair can range from dense (the densest hair in young calves) to sparse. The color of these rhinos is reddish brown. The body is short and has stubby legs. The lip is prehensile . Sumatran rhinoceros once were spread across South-east Asia, but now are on

6545-587: The Code are elaborated by the Editorial Committee appointed by the Commission. The current (4th) edition of the Code (1999) was edited by seven people, with work on the next (5th) edition underway. The Commission also provides rulings on individual problems brought to its attention, as arbitration may be necessary in contentious cases, where strict adherence to the Code would interfere with stability of usage (e.g., see conserved name ). These rulings are published in

6664-448: The Eocene epoch and lived until the early Miocene . The first paraceratheres were only about the size of large dogs, growing progressively larger in the late Eocene and Oligocene. The largest genus of the family was Paraceratherium , which was more than twice as heavy as a bull African elephant, and was one of the largest land mammals that ever lived. The family of all modern rhinoceroses,

6783-562: The Indonesian island where the rhinos were first discovered. Carl Linnaeus originally classified all rhinos in the genus, Rhinoceros ; therefore, the species was originally identified as Rhinoceros sumatrensis or sumatranus . Joshua Brookes considered the Sumatran rhinoceros with its two horns a distinct genus from the one-horned Rhinoceros , and gave it the name Didermocerus in 1828. Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger proposed

6902-553: The Late Eocene in Eurasia , and the ancestors of the extant rhino species dispersed from Asia beginning in the Miocene . Although the relationships of modern rhinoceros species to each other were long controversial, modern genetic evidence has placed the Sumatran rhinoceros as more closely related to the Asian one-horned rhinoceroses (the Indian rhinoceros and Javan rhinoceros ) belonging to

7021-537: The Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in the Late Eocene in Eurasia. The earliest members of Rhinocerotidae were small and numerous; at least 26 genera lived in Eurasia and North America until a wave of extinctions in the middle Oligocene wiped out most of the smaller species. Several independent lineages survived. Menoceras , a pig-sized rhinoceros, had two horns side by side. The North American Teleoceras had short legs,

7140-595: The Sumatran rhinoceros. Ticks and gyrostigma were reported to cause deaths in captive animals in the 19th century. The rhino is also known to be vulnerable to the blood disease surra , which can be spread by horse-flies carrying parasitic trypanosomes ; in 2004, all five rhinos at the Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Center died over an 18-day period after becoming infected by the disease. The Sumatran rhino has no known predators other than humans. Tigers and wild dogs may be capable of killing

7259-526: The Sumatran rhinoceros. To conserve it, they would have to relocate them from small forests to breeding programs that could monitor their breeding success. To boost reproduction, the Malaysian and Indonesian governments could also agree to exchange the gametes of the Sumatran and (smaller) Bornean subspecies. The Indonesian and Malaysian governments have also proposed a single management unit for these two ancient subspecies. Plantations for palm oil have taken out

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7378-399: The black rhinoceros has 84 chromosomes (diploid number, 2N, per cell), all other rhinoceros species have 82 chromosomes. Chromosomal polymorphism might lead to varying chromosome counts. For instance, in a study there were three northern white rhinoceroses with 81 chromosomes. There are two subspecies of white rhinoceros: the southern white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum simum ) and

7497-692: The captive rhinos in Peninsular Malaysia, reducing the population of captive rhinos to eight. Seven of these captive rhinos were sent to the United States, and three to Port Lympne Zoo in the United Kingdom (the other was kept in Southeast Asia), but by 1997, their numbers had dwindled to three: a cow in the Los Angeles Zoo , a bull in the Cincinnati Zoo , and a cow in the Bronx Zoo . In a final effort,

7616-436: The courtship. In the wild, the cow could run away from an overly aggressive bull, but in their smaller captive enclosures, they cannot; this inability to escape aggressive bulls may partly contribute to the low success rate of captive-breeding programs. The period of oestrus itself, when the cow is receptive to the bull, lasts about 24 hours, and observations have placed its recurrence between 21 and 25 days. Sumatran rhinos in

7735-426: The current greatly reduced and still declining population. The rhinos are difficult to observe and hunt directly (one field researcher spent seven weeks in a treehide near a salt lick without ever observing a rhino directly), so poachers make use of spear traps and pit traps. In the 1970s, uses of the rhinoceros's body parts among the local people of Sumatra were documented, such as the use of rhino horns in amulets and

7854-414: The early 1980s, some conservation organizations began a captive-breeding program for the Sumatran rhinoceros. Between 1984 and 1996, this ex situ conservation program transported 40 Sumatran rhinos from their native habitats to zoos and reserves across the world. While hopes were initially high, and much research was conducted on the captive specimens, by the late 1990s, not a single rhino had been born in

7973-667: The end of the last ice age , around 14,000 years ago. Stephanorhinus species are well known in Europe from the Late Pliocene through the Pleistocene, and China from the Pleistocene, with two species, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis and the Stephanorhinus hemitoechus surviving into the last glacial period , until at least 40,000 years ago and possibly later. Although historically many fossil species were assigned to Dicerorhinus today only two fossil species are confidently placed in

8092-410: The females being smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm (20 in) long, exceptionally up to 140 cm (55 in). Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The black rhino is much smaller than the white rhino , and has a pointed mouth, which it uses to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding. During the latter half of

8211-688: The females sometimes may drive away males until they are receptive. Male rhinoceroses taste the urine of female rhinoceroses and perform a flehmen response with the upper lip to determine their reproductive status. Adult males in the vicinty of oestrous females may become aggressive towards other males. These confronations can range from ritualized behaviour, to serious fighting that can result in significant injuries. In some species, male rhinoceroses are territorial, while in other species they are not, or are only territorial depending on local environmental conditions. Females will sometimes reject males they consider undesirable, which results in them fleeing or fighting

8330-475: The fifth such birth in a breeding facility. In March 2022, and 1 October 2023, female calves were born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS), as well as a male calf born on November 25, 2023. Way Kambas National Park , Lampung province, Indonesia . Sumatran rhinos were once quite numerous throughout Southeast Asia . Fewer than 100 individuals are now estimated to remain. The species is classed as critically endangered (primarily due to illegal poaching) while

8449-490: The flooding of Sundaland . Human induced habitat change and hunting may have played a role in the Late Pleistocene. The study was later criticised for not including DNA from extinct mainland populations, which would have provided a holistic account. A Bayesian skyline plot of complete Mitochondrial genomes from multiple individuals from across the range of the species suggested that the population had been relatively stable with an effective population size of 40,000 individuals over

8568-405: The genus Rhinoceros than to living African rhinoceros species, with the split between Rhinoceros and Dicerorhinus estimated to have occurred around 14.8 million years ago, shortly after the split between the ancestors of Dicerorhinus and Rhinoceros and African rhinoceroses, which is placed around 15.6 million years ago. Based on morphological and genetic evidence, the Sumatran rhinoceros

8687-553: The genus. These include Dicerorhinus fusuiensis from the Early Pleistocene of South China, and Dicerorhinus gwebinensis from the Pliocene -Early Pleistocene of Myanmar. Fossils of the modern Sumatran rhinoceros are known from the Early Pleistocene onwards. Pairwise sequential Markovian coalescent (PSMC) analysis of a complete nuclear genome of a Sumatran specimen suggested strong fluctuations in population size, with

8806-505: The head, and its height 1.5–1.7 m (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 7 in). Adults are variously reported to weigh 900–1,400 kg (2,000–3,100 lb) or 1,360–2,000 kg (3,000–4,410 lb). Male horns can reach 26 cm (10 in) in length, while in females they are knobs or altogether absent. These animals prefer dense lowland rain forest, tall grass and reed beds that are plentiful with large floodplains and mud wallows. Though once widespread throughout Asia, by

8925-487: The horn is taken. The Namibian government has supported the practice of rhino trophy hunting as a way to raise money for conservation. Hunting licenses for five Namibian Black rhinos are auctioned annually, with the money going to the government's Game Products Trust Fund. Some conservationists and members of the public oppose or question this practice. Rhinoceros horns develop from subcutaneous tissues, and are made of keratinous mineralized compartments. The horns root in

9044-512: The island of Sumatra . Some conservationists hope Sumatran rhinos may still survive in Burma, though it is considered unlikely. Political turmoil in Burma has prevented any assessment or study of possible survivors. The last reports of stray animals from Indian limits were in the 1990s. Remains of Sumatran rhinoceros have been found in Chinese Neolithic sites of Zhejiang , Henan , Fujian , and

9163-730: The last 400,000 years, with a sharp decline starting around 25,000 years ago. Cladogram showing the relationships of recent and Late Pleistocene rhinoceros species (minus Stephanorhinus hemitoechus) based on whole nuclear genomes, after Liu et al, 2021: † Elasmotherium sibiricum Black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ) White Rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ) Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis ) Javan rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros sondaicus ) Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ) † Woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ) † Merck's rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis ) A mature Sumatran rhino stands about 112–145 cm (3.67–4.76 ft) high at

9282-664: The last rhino in the Western Hemisphere, left the Cincinnati Zoo to Indonesia . Rhinocerotidae Ceratotherium Dicerorhinus Diceros Rhinoceros † Coelodonta † Stephanorhinus † Elasmotherium Fossil genera, see text A rhinoceros ( / r aɪ ˈ n ɒ s ər ə s / ry- NOSS -ə-rəss ; from Ancient Greek ῥινόκερως ( rhinókerōs )  'nose-horned'; from ῥίς ( rhis )  'nose' and κέρας ( kéras )  'horn'; pl. : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses ), commonly abbreviated to rhino ,

9401-492: The last survey in 2008 estimated that around 250 individuals survived. From the early 1990s, the population decline was estimated at more than 50% per decade, and the small, scattered populations now face high risks of inbreeding depression . Most remaining habitat is in relatively inaccessible mountainous areas of Indonesia. Poaching of Sumatran rhinos is a cause for concern, due to the high market price of its horns. This species has been overhunted for many centuries, leading to

9520-423: The living areas and led to the eradication of the rhino in Sumatra. Living rhinoceroses gregariousness varies between species. Adult males tend to be solitary, and this is also true of female Asian rhinoceroses, though the females of African species sometimes form groups, with these groups being more common in white than black rhinoceroses. Rhinoceroses have widely varing diets ranging from strict grazing (such as

9639-554: The mainland. Both populations of Sumatra and Malaysia, however, are close enough genetically that interbreeding would not be problematic. The rhinos of Borneo are sufficiently distinct that conservation geneticists have advised against crossing their lineages with the other populations. Conservation geneticists have recently begun to study the diversity of the gene pool within these populations by identifying microsatellite loci . The results of initial testing found levels of variability within Sumatran rhino populations comparable to those in

9758-410: The male if cornered. During copulation, the male slides his neck up the back of the female, before using his neck as a lever to get his forelegs off the ground, before moving the front legs behind the shoulders of the female. Copulation can last several hours. Pregnancy lasts for over a year, around 460 days in the black rhinoceros and 504 days in the white rhinoceros. The female generally gives birth in

9877-436: The mid-Eocene to early Oligocene. The Amynodontidae, also known as "aquatic rhinos", dispersed across North America and Eurasia , from the late Eocene to early Oligocene . The amynodontids were hippopotamus -like in their ecology and appearance, inhabiting rivers and lakes, and sharing many of the same adaptations to aquatic life as hippos. The Paraceratheriidae, also known as paraceratheres or indricotheres, originated in

9996-499: The most numerous, which once ranged from central Tanzania south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to northern and eastern South Africa; South-western ( Diceros bicornis occidentalis ) which are better adapted to the arid and semi-arid savannas of Namibia, southern Angola, western Botswana and western South Africa; East African ( Diceros bicornis michaeli ), primarily in Tanzania; and West African ( Diceros bicornis longipes ) which

10115-612: The name Dicerorhinus in 1841. In 1868, John Edward Gray proposed the name Ceratorhinus . Normally, the oldest name would be used, but a 1977 ruling by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature established the proper genus name as Dicerorhinus . Dicerorhinus comes from the Greek terms di ( δι , meaning "two"), cero ( κέρας , meaning "horn"), and rhinos ( ρινος , meaning " nose "). The three subspecies are: D. s. sumatrensis , known as

10234-505: The northeastern Tibetan Plateau . The Sumatran rhino is widely scattered across its range, much more so than the other Asian rhinos, which has made it difficult for conservationists to protect members of the species effectively. Only four areas are known to contain Sumatran rhinoceros: Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park , Gunung Leuser National Park , and Way Kambas National Park on Sumatra; and on Indonesian Borneo west of Samarindah. The Kerinci Seblat National Park , Sumatra's largest,

10353-509: The nutrition of the rhino. These licks can be small hot springs, seepages of salty water, or mud-volcanoes . The salt licks also serve an important social purpose for the rhinos—bulls visit the licks to pick up the scent of cows in oestrus . Some Sumatran rhinos, however, live in areas where salt licks are not readily available, or the rhinos have not been observed using the licks. These rhinos may get their necessary mineral requirements by consuming plants rich in minerals. The Sumatran rhinoceros

10472-673: The other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown hair covers most of the Sumatran rhino's body. The Sumatran rhinoceros once inhabited rainforests , swamps and cloud forests in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and southwestern China, particularly in Sichuan . It is now critically endangered , with only five substantial populations in the wild: four in Sumatra and one in Borneo , with an estimated total population of fewer than 80 mature individuals. The species

10591-578: The population of the less endangered African rhinos, but the genetic diversity of Sumatran rhinos is an area of continuing study. Although the rhino had been thought to be extinct in Kalimantan since the 1990s, in March 2013 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that the team when monitoring orangutan activity found in West Kutai Regency , East Kalimantan , several fresh rhino foot trails, mud holes, traces of rhino-rubbed trees, traces of rhino horns on

10710-472: The program, and most of its proponents agreed the program had been a failure. In 1997, the IUCN 's Asian rhino specialist group, which once endorsed the program, declared it had failed "even maintaining the species within acceptable limits of mortality", noting that, in addition to the lack of births, 20 of the captured rhinos had died. In 2004, a surra outbreak at the Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Centre killed all

10829-624: The relationships of recent and Late Pleistocene rhinoceros species (minus Stephanorhinus hemitoechus) based on whole nuclear genomes, after Liu et al., 2021: † Elasmotherium sibiricum White Rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ) Black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ) † Woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ) † Merck's rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis ) Sumatran rhinoceros ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ) Javan rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros sondaicus ) Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis ) † denotes extinct taxa Adult rhinoceroses have no real predators in

10948-518: The rhino consumes exist in only small portions, which indicates the rhino is frequently changing its diet and feeding in different locations. Among the most common plants the rhino eats are many species from the Euphorbiaceae , Rubiaceae , and Melastomataceae families. The most common species the rhino consumes is Eugenia . The vegetal diet of the Sumatran rhinoceros is high in fiber and only moderate in protein . Salt licks are very important to

11067-404: The rhino is a strong swimmer. A relative absence of wallows near rivers in the range of the Sumatran rhinoceros indicates they may occasionally bathe in rivers in lieu of wallowing. Most feeding occurs just before nightfall and in the morning. The Sumatran rhino is a folivore, with a diet of young saplings, leaves, twigs, and shoots. The rhinos usually consume up to 50 kg (110 lb) of food

11186-510: The rhino will deepen puddles with its feet and horns. The wallowing behaviour helps the rhino maintain its body temperature and protect its skin from ectoparasites and other insects. Captive specimens, deprived of adequate wallowing, have quickly developed broken and inflamed skins, suppurations , eye problems, inflamed nails, and hair loss, and have eventually died. One 20-month study of wallowing behavior found they will visit no more than three wallows at any given time. After two to 12 weeks using

11305-435: The rhino's range, such as between salt licks , or in corridors through inhospitable terrain that separates ranges. In feeding areas, the rhinos will make smaller trails, still covered by vegetation, to areas containing food the rhino eats. Sumatran rhino trails have been found that cross rivers deeper than 1.5 m (4.9 ft) and about 50 m (160 ft) across. The currents of these rivers are known to be strong, but

11424-465: The rhinos, helping raise financial resources for conservation efforts in Sumatra but, moreover, to have established a small captive breeding group. Opponents of the captive breeding program argue that the losses are too great; the program is too expensive; removing rhinos from their habitat, even temporarily, alters their ecological role; and captive populations cannot match the rate of recovery seen in well-protected native habitats. In October 2015, Harapan,

11543-554: The second-most common. The whale varies in pitch and lasts from four to seven seconds. The whistle-blow is named because it consists of a two-second-long whistling noise and a burst of air in immediate succession. The whistle-blow is the loudest of the vocalizations, loud enough to make the iron bars in the zoo enclosure where the rhinos were studied vibrate. The purpose of the vocalizations is unknown, though they are theorized to convey danger, sexual readiness, and location, as do other ungulate vocalizations. The whistle-blow could be heard at

11662-400: The shoulder, has a body length of around 236–318 cm (7.74–10.43 ft), and weighs 500–800 kg (1,100–1,760 lb), though the largest individuals in zoos have been known to weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,410 lb). Like the two African species, it has two horns. The larger is the nasal horn, typically only 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in), though the longest recorded specimen

11781-407: The shoulder, with a head-and-body length of 2.36–3.18 m (7 ft 9 in – 10 ft 5 in) and a tail of 35–70 cm (14–28 in). The weight is reported to range from 500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb), averaging 700–800 kg (1,540–1,760 lb). Like both African species, it has two horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in), while

11900-576: The siring and 23 June 2012 birth of male calf Andatu, the fourth captive-born calf of the era; Andalas had been mated with Ratu, a wild-born cow living in the Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas National Park . Despite the recent successes in Cincinnati, the captive-breeding program has remained controversial. Proponents argue that the zoos have not only aided the conservation effort by studying the reproductive habits, raising public awareness and education about

12019-551: The south of Western Siberia (the area that is today Kazakhstan) date as recently as 39,000 years ago. The origin of the two living African rhinos can be traced to the late Miocene ( 6 mya ) species Ceratotherium neumayri . The lineages containing the living species diverged by the early Pliocene , when Diceros praecox , the likely ancestor of the black rhinoceros, appears in the fossil record. The black and white rhinoceros remain so closely related that they can still mate and successfully produce offspring. Cladogram showing

12138-561: The three rhinos were united in Cincinnati. After years of failed attempts, the cow from Los Angeles, Emi, became pregnant for the sixth time, with the zoo's bull Ipuh. All five of her previous pregnancies ended in failure. Reproductive physiologist at the Cincinnati Zoo, Terri Roth , had learned from previous failures, though, and with the aid of special hormone treatments, Emi gave birth to a healthy male calf named Andalas (an Indonesian literary word for Sumatra) in September 2001. Andalas's birth

12257-804: The time of the birth of her next calf. Rhinocerotoids diverged from other perissodactyls by the early Eocene . Fossils of Hyrachyus eximus found in North America date to this period. This small hornless ancestor resembled a tapir or small horse more than a rhino. Four families, sometimes grouped together as the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea , evolved in the late Eocene, namely the Hyracodontidae, Amynodontidae, Paraceratheriidae and Rhinocerotidae. Hyracodontidae , also known as "running rhinos", showed adaptations for speed, and would have looked more like horses than modern rhinos. The smallest hyracodontids were dog-sized. Hyracodontids spread across Eurasia from

12376-418: The two African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths; they rely instead on their lips to pluck food. Rhinoceroses are killed by poachers for their horns , which are bought and sold on the black market for high prices, leading to most living rhinoceros species being considered endangered. The contemporary market for rhino horn is overwhelmingly driven by China and Vietnam , where it

12495-526: The verge of extinction, confined to several parts of Indonesia and Malaysia by reproductive isolation. There were 320 D. sumatrensis in 1995, which, by 2011, had dwindled to 216 . It has been found through DNA comparison that the Sumatran rhinoceros is the most ancient extant rhinoceros and related to the extinct Eurasian woolly rhino species, Coelodonta . In 1994 Alan Rabinowitz publicly denounced governments, non-governmental organizations, and other institutions for lacking in their attempts to conserve

12614-552: The video evidence "very important" and mentioned Indonesia's "target of rhino population growth by three percent per year". On 22 March 2016 it was announced by the WWF that a live Sumatran rhino was found in Kalimantan; it was the first contact in over 40 years. The rhino, a female, was captured and transported to a nearby sanctuary to ensure her survival. Iman, the last known Sumatran rhino in Malaysia, died in November 2019; stem cell technology

12733-554: The walls of mud holes, and rhino bites on small branches. The team also identified that rhinos ate more than 30 species of plants. On 2 October 2013, video images made with camera traps showing the Sumatran rhino in Kutai Barat, Kalimantan, were released by the World Wildlife Fund. Experts assume the videos show two different animals, but aren't quite certain. According to the Indonesia's Minister of Forestry, Zulkifli Hasan called

12852-487: The white rhinoceros), to largely browsing (such as the black rhinoceros) to a mixture between both (the Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros). As bulk feeders of low quality vegetation, rhinoceroses spend a majority of their time foraging. All living rhinoceroses have a polyandrous and polygnous mating system where both males and females seek to mate with multiple individuals of the opposite sex. Male rhinoceroses guard reproductive age females until they are in full estrous though

12971-544: The wild in August 2015. In March 2016 there was a rare sighting of a Sumatran rhino in East Kalimantan , the Indonesian part of Borneo . The last time there was a Sumatran rhino in the Kalimantan area was approximately 40 years ago. This optimism was met with despair as the same rhino named Najaq was found dead several weeks after the sighting. The cause of death was infection on the wound caused by snare. Sumatran rhinos do not thrive outside of their ecosystem. London Zoo acquired

13090-516: The wild, other than humans. Young rhinos sometimes fall prey to big cats , crocodiles, African wild dogs , and hyenas . Although rhinos are large and aggressive and have a reputation for being resilient, they are very easily poached; they visit water holes daily and can be easily killed while they drink. As of December 2009, poaching increased globally while efforts to protect the rhino are considered increasingly ineffective. The most serious estimate, that only 3% of poachers are successfully countered,

13209-554: The wild, while the record time in captivity is a female D. lasiotis , which lived for 32 years and 8 months before dying in the London Zoo in 1900. Two thick folds of skin encircle the body behind the front legs and before the hind legs. The rhino has a smaller fold of skin around its neck. The skin itself is thin, 10–16 mm (0.39–0.63 in), and in the wild, the rhino appears to have no subcutaneous fat . Hair can range from dense (the most dense hair in young calves) to scarce, and

13328-528: The zoological community "through generation and dissemination of information on the correct use of the scientific names of animals". The ICZN publishes the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (usually referred to as "the Code" or "the ICZN Code"), a widely accepted convention containing the rules for the formal scientific naming of all organisms that are treated as animals . New editions of

13447-465: Was declared extinct in November 2011. The native Tswanan name keitloa describes a South African variation of the black rhino in which the posterior horn is equal to or longer than the anterior horn. An adult black rhinoceros stands 1.50–1.75 m (59–69 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.5–3.9 m (11–13 ft) in length. An adult weighs from 850 to 1,600 kg (1,870 to 3,530 lb), exceptionally to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb), with

13566-401: Was estimated to contain a population of around 500 rhinos in the 1980s, but due to poaching, this population is now considered extinct. The survival of any animals in Peninsular Malaysia is extremely unlikely. Genetic analysis of Sumatran rhino populations has identified three distinct genetic lineages. The channel between Sumatra and Malaysia was not as significant a barrier for the rhinos as

13685-555: Was extirpated in Malaysia in 2019, and one of the Sumatran populations may already be extinct. In 2015, researchers announced that the Bornean rhinoceros had become extinct in the northern part of Borneo in Sabah , Malaysia. A tiny population was discovered in East Kalimantan in early 2016. The Sumatran rhino is a mostly solitary animal except for courtship and offspring-rearing. It is the most vocal rhino species and also communicates through marking soil with its feet, twisting saplings into patterns, and leaving excrement. The species

13804-475: Was much longer at 81 cm (32 in). The posterior horn is much smaller, usually less than 10 cm (3.9 in) long, and often little more than a knob. The larger nasal horn is also known as the anterior horn; the smaller posterior horn is known as the frontal horn. The horns are dark grey or black in color. The bulls have larger horns than the cows, though the species is not otherwise sexually dimorphic . The Sumatran rhino lives an estimated 30–45 years in

13923-488: Was not longer than other Sumatran rhinos, but D. s. lasiotis remained a subspecies because it was significantly larger than the other subspecies. Ancestral rhinoceroses first diverged from other perissodactyls in the Early Eocene . Mitochondrial DNA comparison suggests the ancestors of modern rhinos split from the ancestors of Equidae around 50 million years ago. The extant family, the Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in

14042-496: Was shot 16 km (9.9 mi) outside Fort Marlborough , near the west coast of Sumatra, in 1793. Drawings of the animal, and a written description, were sent to the naturalist Joseph Banks , then president of the Royal Society of London , who published a paper on the specimen that year. In 1814, the species was given a scientific name by Johann Fischer von Waldheim . The specific epithet sumatrensis signifies "of Sumatra",

14161-428: Was the first successful captive birth of a Sumatran rhino in 112 years. A female calf, named "Suci" (Indonesian for "pure"), followed on 30 July 2004. On 29 April 2007, Emi gave birth a third time, to her second male calf, named Harapan (Indonesian for "hope") or Harry. In 2007, Andalas, who had been living at the Los Angeles Zoo , was returned to Sumatra to take part in breeding programs with healthy females, leading to

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