Indian Rhinoceros

The largest land mammals after elephants, rhinos have remained mostly unchanged for millennia. Females weigh about 1600 kg, while males go up to 2200 kg, but believe it or not, these heavyweights are vegetarians, whose diet consists mainly of grass but also includes fruit, leaves, branches of trees and shrubs, and cultivated crops. The Indian rhinoceros (both male and female) has one horn, and this is a major reason for its woes. Used in Oriental medicine as an aphrodisiac and commanding a price of four times its weight in gold, the rhino's horn has led to its being mercilessly hunted. Loss of the alluvial plain grasslands that form its habitat is another major contributory factor for the decrease in the rhino population. Today, most rhinos are found in the sanctuaries in Assam .