The rhino is a strange, wild animal due to its peculiar horn on its nose and thick skin. The rhino is probably the largest land animal after the elephant. Rhinos are very heavy, and the white rhino of Africa weighs around four tonnes!
The skin of all rhinos is hairless, except for a brush of bristles at the tip of the tail. The skin is also very thick and this allows rhinos to rush through thorny thickets without hurting themselves. Rhinos generally have poor eye-sight, but their sense of smell is very keen.
The word ‘rhino’ is short for rhinoceros, which means ‘horned nose’. Unfortunately, the primary cause of the rhino’s extinction is its horn. These animals are being hunted and slaughtered so that their horns can be made into dagger handles or crushed to make certain medicines. In fact, rhinos are being killed at such an alarming rate that in a matter of 20 or 30 years, there may be no rhinos left at all!
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