What grows on a rhino's nose. The rhinoceros is a blind giant. What is the name of the statue in Piccadilly Circus in London

There is a belief that rhinoceros horn is a powerful biostimulant. It is believed that he can save from infertility. Naturally, all this is fiction. In the Arab countries of Southeast Asia, rhinoceros horn is used to decorate the handles of traditional daggers. Of greatest interest are the horns, which do not grow from the skull, but, as it were, are growths from the skin. In the countries of the East, bowls and vessels are made from rhinoceros horn. Africans use it to make shields and various crafts. Rhinoceros horn is also used in Chinese medicine.

Rhino meat is edible.

Indeed, rhinos are often killed illegally, and at the same time it is quite difficult, because a rhinoceros is not some kind of hare. And the point is in his horn, which contains substances from which they prepare a remedy for youth and against male potency.

Indeed, it is far from a secret that the main reason for the extermination of rhinos by people is its horn. It is because of the horn that rhinos have been hunted for decades, thanks to which this animal is on the verge of extinction.

It is known that this horn is not a bone formation and does not grow from the skull. This is just a densely fused area of ​​wool, hair (bristles), i.e. you can say a skin growth. The structure of the rhinoceros horn is similar to that of a horse's hoof.

Why is this very horn so attractive to people? But the fact is that since ancient times there has been a legend about the almost magical properties of rhinoceros horn. For many years, wonderful drugs have been made from it, which allegedly preserve eternal youth, work wonders related to potency problems in men, etc.

In China, for example, rhinoceros horn medicines were used to treat a variety of ailments, but were mainly used to increase male virility.

In India, it has also always been believed that the drug from the horn of the rhinoceros is a miracle cure for impotence.

But in Yemen, when young men reach adulthood, according to a long tradition, they are solemnly handed daggers, the handle of which is made of a rhinoceros horn. For this alone, more than one thousand of these animals were exterminated in this state.

So, returning to the legend about the miraculous healing properties of the rhinoceros horn, it is worth noting that this is just a legend, myth, fiction. Medicines, drugs and extracts from it do not possess any magical properties. And it has been proven by scientific research.

So, let's hope that people will come to their senses and stop destroying an innocent animal because of prejudice.

At the same time, according to the latest data, rhinos are exterminated as before, because. the value of their horns, no matter what, is growing. This is probably due to the fact that rhinos are becoming less and less popular, and the horn is becoming more and more popular. In South Africa, for example, for one rhinoceros rock weighing 3 kg, resellers pay about 200 thousand US dollars!

Yes, indeed, the main reason for the extermination of rhinos is their horn.

Medicines made from rhinoceros horn are used to treat many diseases, but are mainly used to increase male strength.

In fact, it has been scientifically proven that rhino horn does not cure impotence. But apparently, people believe in all these legends and myths about healing. Perhaps if you convince yourself that rhino horn has magical properties, it will help to heal.

I want to note right away that scientists have conducted research in the field of the healing properties of rhinoceros horn and have not found anything there, so everything that I will write below is a myth!

So people believed this:

1. A wine cup made from this horn will immediately detect the poison in the wine, it should sizzle.
2. Treatment of diseases - plague and epilepsy.
3. Potency increase.
4. Body rejuvenation.
5. Increasing skin elasticity and giving the skin a natural color.

In fact, rhinoceros horn powder is no different from cow bone powder.

And all these rumors came from the myths of the peoples of Africa, who believed that the horn of a rhinoceros is nothing but the horn of a unicorn.

Yes, as for meat - you can eat it, only the main part of course dies, since you can’t find refrigerators in Africa, and in the heat it quickly goes out.

Otherwise, it turns out that the rhinoceros is killed in vain, you can go to the livestock processing shop and buy bones and horns of a cow there, grind them up and pass them off as rhinoceros horns.

Well, statements from some patients that this powder helped them are nothing but self-hypnosis!

Horn these animals are keratin. Those who are familiar with anatomy know that this protein is the basis of our hair and nails.

Since ancient times, there was a belief that the powder prepared from rhinoceros horn has healing properties, supposedly he will be able to cure many ailments - for example, impotence.

It was believed that with its help you can restore youth.

Most often, these beliefs are common in Asian medicine.

However, scientific research not confirmed all these assumptions, but people continue to believe in its miraculous power. And, most interestingly, the prices for these horns are simply huge. Thus, by selling such goods on the black market, one can ensure a comfortable existence for a long period.

Also, dagger handles are made from horns.

What is valuable in nm is that, according to legend, a very valuable medicine can be obtained from this horn - namely, a medicine for the treatment of potency. Now scientists dispute this fact and say that there is nothing like this in the horn, but it used to help people!

The main reason that poachers catch rhinoceros lies in its horn. A powder is made from this horn, from which a variety of medicines are then made, aimed at both treating diseases and rejuvenating the body. It is even believed that rhinoceros horn has a positive effect on the potency of men.

If I am not mistaken, I can be mistaken that it is not a rhino horn, but someone else, then this horn is sold to China. They make medicine out of it. Well, this is their folk remedy. Where does the rest of the carcass go? No, the meat is not edible. It is eaten by scavengers.

It is believed that drugs prepared from rhinoceros horn are a good way to improve male potency. In addition, these drugs add vitality and increase life expectancy.

What is rhino horn made of?

Contrary to what some of you might think, rhino horn is not hair at all.

It is made up of extremely thin, tightly woven fibers of a horny substance called keratin. Keratin is a protein found in human hair and nails, as well as animal claws and hooves, bird feathers, porcupine quills, and the shells of armadillos and turtles.

The rhinoceros is the only animal whose horn is composed entirely of keratin; unlike the horns of livestock, rams, antelopes and giraffes, there is no horn core inside the rhinoceros horn. From the skull of a dead rhinoceros, you won't even guess that a horn was once present here; during the life of the beast, the horn was securely attached to a rough outgrowth on the skin above the nasal bone.

If you cut off or damage the horn of a rhino, it literally unwinds, but in young individuals it can grow back. No one knows what its real function is, although females whose horn has been removed, for some reason, completely stop looking after their offspring.

Rhinos are endangered, and this is primarily due to the huge demand for their horns. African rhinoceros horn is highly prized in the Middle East, especially in Yemen, both for medical reasons and for traditional dagger hilts. Since 1970, 67,050 kg of rhinoceros horns have been imported into Yemen. With an average weight of 3 kg per horn, this means that 22,350 rhinos were killed.

Mankind cannot get rid of the misconception that rhinoceros horn is a powerful aphrodisiac. Chinese herbalists tell us that this is not the case, that the effect of the horn is more cooling than warming, and that it is generally used in the treatment of high blood pressure and fever.

Name rhinoceros(Rhinoceros (English).) comes from two Greek words: rhino("nose") and keras("horn"). Today, there are five species of rhinoceros in the world: black, white, Indian, Javanese and Sumatran. Of the Javanese, only sixty individuals survived. This is the fourth most endangered species - after the Chinese lake dolphin from the Yangtze River, the marmot from Vancouver Island and the case-tailed (or bag-winged) bat that lives in the Seychelles.

The white rhino is not white at all. Word white actually distorted wait, which means "wide" in Afrikaans. This definition refers to the animal's mouth rather than to the volume of its chest, since, unlike black individuals, whites lack the movable lips normally used to eat tree branches.

Any rhinoceros has an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but vision is just a nightmare. Rhinos usually live alone and converge only for mating.

If caught off guard, a rhinoceros will urinate and defecate profusely. When attacking, the Asiatic rhinoceros bites; the African attacks by rushing forward. The black rhinoceros, despite its short legs, can run at a speed of 55 km/h.

Which African mammal kills more people than any other?

Hippopotamus.

Unfortunately, hippos love to stay near fresh water bodies overgrown along the banks - in the same places that a person has chosen for himself.

Most of the trouble is either due to the fact that a hippo underwater is accidentally hit on the head with an oar and he decides to take revenge by turning the boat over, or people are tempted to walk in the moonlight - at the very hour when hippos get out of the water to chew grass. "Treaded down by a frightened hippo" is not a good headline for an obituary.

Hippos are the largest representatives of the hippopotamus family. Relatives of our pigs, they are divided into two types: ordinary and dwarf. The common hippopotamus (aka hippopotamus) is the third largest land mammal after the African and Indian elephants.

There are few who are foolish enough to attack a hippopotamus. The hippopotamus is an extremely irritable animal, especially in its youth. He deals with the lions, throwing them into the water and drowning them in the depths, bites the crocodiles in half, and pulls the sharks onto land and tramples them to death. At the same time, hippos are strict vegetarians, and all their aggressiveness comes mainly from self-defense. The hippo's main food is grass.

The skin of a hippopotamus weighs a whole ton, which is 25% of the mass of the animal itself. Its thickness, 4 cm, is bulletproof for most types of small arms. The hippopotamus secretes an oily red liquid through the pores of its skin, which protects it from drying out - it was she who gave rise to the myth that hippos sweat blood. Don't let this carcass fool you. An adult hippo will easily overtake any of you.

Other than whales and dolphins, hippos are the only mammals that mate and give birth underwater. They can close their nostrils, puff up their ears, and remain completely submerged for up to five minutes.

Hippos have terrible bad breath. When it seems to you that the hippopotamus is yawning, in fact, he blows everything around with his halitosis - they say, stay away from me. And this is very useful advice: the fangs of a hippo are sharp, and the jaws can easily bite a limb.

Hippos have four "teeth", their material is ivory. George Washington's false teeth were partly made from such fangs.

According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food, the tastiest part of a hippopotamus is its mammary glands stewed in a pot of herbs and spices. In the absence of such, the muscles of the back, prepared in a similar way, will come off.

Where do most tigers live?

A hundred years ago, there were about 40,000 tigers in India. Today, there are between 3,000 and 4,700 of them. According to some scientists, only 5,100 to 7,500 wild tigers remain in nature. On the other hand, it is estimated that there are 4,000 tigers in captivity in Texas alone. According to the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums, there are up to 12,000 individuals in private ownership in the United States. So, Mike Tyson personally has four tigers.

Part of the explanation for this huge population is American law. Only nineteen states prohibit private ownership of tigers, fifteen require a license, and the remaining sixteen states have no restrictions at all.

In addition, the pleasure is not so expensive. A small tiger cub will cost you only $1,000, and for $3,500 you can buy yourself a pair of adult Bengal tigers; $15,000 is enough for a trendy white tiger with blue eyes.

Ironically, today's situation is the result of the success of the tiger breeding programs in American circuses and zoos. An oversupply of tiger cubs in the 1980s and 1990s led to a significant reduction in their prices. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that there are about 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in Houston alone.

Throughout the 20th century, wild tiger populations have suffered irreparable damage. By the 1950s, tigers had completely disappeared from the Caspian Sea, and between 1937 and 1972, from the islands of Bali and Java. In southern China, tigers are also practically not found - there are only thirty of them left in the wild.

Despite the desperate efforts of environmentalists, there is a fear that tigers will completely disappear from the wild by the end of this century.

A domestic cat is about a hundred times smaller than a tiger.

Tigers cannot stand the smell of alcohol. And they will tear apart anyone who kissed the bottle.

Tigers fade as they age, but who can blame them for this?

What would you use to deal with a crocodile?

Never tease an alligator until you've crossed a river.

Jamaican proverb

a) Paper clip.

b) Clamp-"crocodile".

c) paper bag.

d) ladies handbag.

d) rubber band.

To escape from a crocodile, whose length reaches 2 m, an ordinary rubber band is enough.

The muscles that close the jaws of an alligator and a crocodile are so powerful that they have the strength of a truck that has fallen off a cliff. But here the muscles that open the same jaws are so weak that you can calmly keep your mouth closed with only slight pressure on it with your hand. Technically, the difference between a crocodile and an alligator is that the snout is longer and narrower, the eyes are set closer to the nose, and the fourth tooth sticks out from the lower jaw instead of fitting neatly into the upper. Also, crocodiles tend to live in salt water, while most alligators live in fresh water. The word "crocodile" means lizard - from the Greek crocodile los. The name was first used by Herodotus, who noticed several individuals basking on the pebble-covered banks of the Nile. Alligator - distorted from Spanish el lagarto das Indias, "India lizard".

None of the animals weeps, tormenting you to death. Crocodile tears are another myth invented by medieval travelers. In 1356, Sir John Manderville described his observations as follows: “In many places in India there are many cockadrilles - something like long snakes. These snakes kill people and eat them, bursting into tears at the same time.

The crocodile does have tear ducts, but they are emptied directly into the mouth, so that the tears as such are not visible from the outside. The origin of the legend may be due to the fact that the lacrimal glands of the crocodile are located close to the throat. Because of this, when trying to swallow something bulky or resisting, the crocodile's eyes may water slightly. Crocodiles cannot smile either: neither they nor alligators have lips.

Crocodile gastric juice contains so much hydrochloric acid that it can dissolve iron and steel.

On the other hand, you don't have to worry about alligators supposedly infesting the city's sewers. An alligator cannot exist without ultraviolet light, thanks to which its body absorbs calcium. The history of this urban legend can be traced back to 1935, when an article appeared in the New York Times about boys from Harlem who pulled an alligator out of a sewer manhole and beaten to death with shovels. Most likely, the poor fellow just fell off some ship and accidentally swam into a storm conduit.

What is three times more dangerous than war?

Work is a much bigger killer than alcohol, drugs and war.

Every year, two million people die from industrial accidents and occupational diseases - as opposed to only 650,000 who die in military conflicts.

In general, the most dangerous occupations in the world are agriculture, mining and construction. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2000 alone, 5,915 people died at their workplaces - including those who had a heart attack right at their desks.

The lumberjack profession was recognized as the most dangerous - 122 deaths per 100,000 workers. Fishing fleet sailors came second, civil aviation pilots ranked third with a mortality rate of 101 per 100 thousand. We want to reassure you right away: almost all pilots who died in air crashes were sitting at the controls of small aircraft, not passenger airliners.

Steel construction workers and miners ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, although the death rate in both occupations was less than half that of lumberjacks.

Regardless of occupation, the third most common cause of death at work was homicide, with 677 deaths. In 2000, fifty police officers were killed. But sellers - as many as 205 people!

The second place among the causes of death was taken by falls from a height - 12% of the total. The main victims here are roofers and high-rise installers.

Road traffic accidents were the most common cause of death at work, accounting for 23% of the total. As it turns out, even policemen are more likely to die at the wheel than at the hands of a killer.

The most dangerous of the rare professions is considered to be the work of a crab catcher in the Bering Sea.

The risk of death can be calculated using a special scale invented by Frank Duckworth, editor of the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society of Great Britain. The Duckworth scale measures the likelihood of death as a result of a particular activity. The safest activity is scored zero; 8 will undoubtedly lead to death.

For example, "Russian roulette" in terms of risk gives 7.2 points. Twenty years of rock climbing is 6.3. The chance of dying at the hands of an assassin is 4.6. A 100-mile car trip driven by a sober, middle-aged driver scores 1.9, slightly more risky than death from an asteroid impact (1.6).

On the Duckworth scale, 5.5 is considered especially dangerous. For men, this is the risk of death in a traffic accident or an accidental fall from a height; for both sexes - the risk of dying while doing housework, washing dishes or just walking down the street.

What was the main cause of death during a naval battle in the 18th century?

The most common chip.

Cannonballs fired from the cannons of warships didn't explode (whatever Hollywood might have imagined) - they simply punched through the hull of the ship, which caused huge wood chips to fly in all directions, hitting everyone who was within reach.

British warships of the time were often rotten and unseaworthy. Many officers bought ranks and ranks for themselves, and therefore had no idea how to handle sails, fight and command subordinates. Hernias from dragging many acres of wet canvas up the hump became such a common occurrence that the fleet was forced to issue bandages along with uniforms. To top it off, for a hundred years, sailors and officers have never received a pay raise.

At close range, a fifteen-kilogram cannonball pierced wood to a depth of 60 cm. And the best way to stop splitting (of course, apart from building metal ships) was to use virgin oak - a type of tree that did not give chips, being one of the hardest breeds. virgin oak ( Quercus virginiana) is the emblem of Georgia and a symbol of strength and resilience throughout the southern states: this tree, entwined with long garlands of moss, is seen all the time in films like Gone with the Wind.

In which war did the most British soldiers die - if counted as a percentage?

In the English Civil War (or the "War of the Three Kingdoms", as historians now call it).

In seven years, from 1642 to 1649, every tenth inhabitant of England died - a staggering figure: as a percentage of the total population, this is three times more than in the First, and five times more than in the Second World War.

Various estimates put the total number of people living in the United Kingdom at that time at five million, two of whom were men of military age. 85 thousand of them died on the battlefield, another 100 thousand died from wounds and diseases. The Civil War was the largest mobilization in the history of England: a quarter of those who were able to bear arms donned military uniform.

In Ireland, the situation turned out to be even worse, as the war escalated into a struggle for independence that was doomed to failure. Some believe that by the end of Cromwell's expedition in 1653, at least half the population of Ireland had laid down their lives.

A 2004 BBC poll found that 90% of Britons could not name a single civil war battle; 80% do not know which English king was executed by Parliament in 1649; and 67% of students have never heard of Oliver Cromwell.

What word can describe the most humiliating defeat of Napoleon?

I believe no one has ever gotten knocked out by a rabbit. At least not intentionally.

Sir William Connor

Rabbits.

And although there is no doubt about the crushing Napoleon's defeat, yet it was not the most shameful.

In 1807, Napoleon was in high spirits: he had just signed the Peace of Tilsit, an agreement on the division of borders between France, Russia and Prussia. Wishing to celebrate such a wonderful event, the emperor invites the entire court to enjoy an afternoon rabbit hunt.

Napoleon instructs his confidant, chief of staff Alexander Berthier, to organize the hunt, who is so eager to impress his patron that he buys several thousand rabbits at once, so that the imperial court would not be bored.

The retinue arrived, the hunt began, the huntsmen released the prey. And then the unexpected happened. It turned out that Berthier bought not wild at all, but ordinary domestic rabbits, who mistakenly decided that now they would be fed, and not killed.

Instead of asking the goad, they spotted a little man in a large cocked hat, mistaking him for the owner who brought the food. Hungry hunting trophies rushed to Napoleon at full speed (and this is no less than 56 km / h).

The dumbfounded retinue could not stop the rabbit pressure, and the poor emperor had no choice but to take flight, fighting off the starving beast with his bare hands. However, the rabbits did not give in and finally drove Napoleon back into the carriage, ignoring the lackeys, who unsuccessfully lashed them with their whips.

According to contemporaries who were present at this fiasco, the French emperor rushed away, completely broken and covered with indelible shame.

Who took the nose off the Sphinx?

Sphinx (translated from Greek - "strangler") - a mythological creature with the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. As you may have noticed, his giant 6,500-year-old statue near the Egyptian pyramids is noseless. For many centuries, the fact that the nose of the Sphinx was deliberately beaten off for some special reasons was accused by various armies and individuals - the British, Germans, Arabs. However, it is still customary to shift the blame to Napoleon.

Almost none of these accusations are unfounded. In fact, the only one who can be said with certainty that he actually caused damage to the Sphinx was the Sufi fanatic Muhammad Saim al-Dah, who was beaten to death by the locals for vandalism in 1378.

The British and German armies, who were in Egypt during both world wars, are not to blame: there are photographs of the Sphinx without a nose, dated 1886.

As for Napoleon, sketches with a noseless Sphinx, made by European travelers in 1737, thirty-two years before the birth of the future French emperor, have been preserved. When the twenty-nine-year-old general first laid eyes on the ancient statue, it had no nose, most likely for hundreds of years.

Napoleon's campaign in Egypt was intended to disrupt English ties with India. The French army gave two major battles in this country: the battle of the Pyramids (which, by the way, did not take place at the Pyramids at all) and the battle of the Nile (which had nothing to do with the Nile). Together with the 55,000th army, Napoleon brought 155 civilian specialists - the so-called Savants(Scientists; prominent experts in any field (fr.)). This was the first professional archaeological expedition to Egypt.

When Nelson sank the Napoleonic fleet, the emperor returned to France, leaving both the army and the "scientists" who continued to work without their leader. As a result, a scientific work appeared called "Description de I" Egypte ("Description of Egypt" (fr.)) - the first accurate picture of the country that reached Europe.

Nevertheless, despite all these facts, Egyptian guides still tell numerous crowds of tourists that Napoleon stole the nose from the Sphinx and transported it to the Louvre in Paris.

The most plausible reason for the Sphinx's lack of such an important organ is the 6,000 years of exposure to wind and weather on the soft limestone.

What is the name of the statue in Piccadilly Circus in London?

b) Angel of Christian mercy.

c) Cupid.

d) Anteros.

The famous statue appeared in Piccadilly Circus in 1892 to commemorate the philanthropic work of Lord Shaftesbury, a well-known philanthropist of the Victorian era.

Created by the sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert, the statue depicts Anteros and personifies "mature and deliberate love, in contrast to Eros - a frivolous and windy tyrant." Anteros was the younger twin brother of Eros.

However, the convoluted explanation never caught on with the masses. Because of the bow and nudity, as well as the general, rather vague idea of ​​\u200b\u200bclassical mythology, everyone unanimously decided that this was Eros (known in ancient Rome as Cupid), the Greek god of love.

As a result, those who wanted to protect Shaftesbury's reputation spread a counter rumor: that the memorial is nothing more than the Angel of Christian Mercy (agape in Greek) - albeit a vague, but less piquant alternative.

Whatever the name of this sculpture, from a technological point of view, it was truly revolutionary, as it was the first statue in the world cast from pure aluminum.

Inveterate connoisseurs of London will certainly tell you that once the monument stood in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, aiming with its bow at Shaftesbury Avenue. During World War II, the statue was dismantled and hidden in a safe place. When the sculpture was returned - so the legend goes - the pale bureaucrats from the London City Council decided to turn it around, aiming it at Lower Regent Street.

But this is not so at all. The statue was indeed removed from its pedestal, but it always pointed towards Lower Regent Street: Gilbert intended Anteros to face Shaftesbury House in Wimbourne St. Giles, Dorset.

What did Nero do while Rome burned?

He certainly did not play the violin, which was invented only in the 15th century.

Even Nero was accused of the fact that in 64, when Rome was engulfed in fire, he allegedly sang a song about burning Troy, hinting that he himself had set up all this arson.

In fact, when the fire broke out, Nero was 56 km from Rome, at his dacha on the coast. Hearing the terrible news, Nero immediately rode to the burning city and personally led the work to extinguish the fire. The suspicion that Nero wanted to burn Rome may have arisen from his repeatedly expressed ambitions to completely rebuild the Great City.

Now a few words about what Nero really did. This man was a transvestite who liked to dress up in a woman's dress, sing, play musical instruments and organize orgies. By order of Nero, his own mother was killed. He was very proud of his musical ability; it is believed that his last words were:

“What a great artist the world is losing!”

Nero is said to have often accompanied himself on the kithara (a relative of the lyre), but he also played the bagpipe.

Dio Chrysostomos, the Greek rhetorician and philosopher, writing in the year 100, noted:

"They say he can write, carve statues, and play the aulos with his mouth and under his armpit, under which he puts an inflated sack."

At the beginning of the 6th century, the Greek historian Procopius mentioned that bagpipes were a popular instrument in the Roman infantry, while the cavalry favored the trumpet.

Nero also invented ice cream (messengers brought him mountain snow, where they then added fruit juice), and his personal poisoner, the master Locusta, became the first officially registered serial killer in history.

Locusta is translated as "lobster" or "locust": the Latin language uses the same word in both meanings.

Buffalo, lion and leopard, the very five animals that in the old days were the most honorable trophies of hunting safaris. And the rhinoceros has rather poor eyesight, but as they say, with its size and power, these are no longer its problems.

Rhinoceros: description, structure, characteristics. What does a rhinoceros look like?

The Latin name of the rhinoceros - Rhinocerotidae, is essentially identical to ours, since "Rhino" means "nose", and "ceros" horn, it turns out "rhinoceros", this name very aptly characterizes this beast, because the large horn on the nose, growing from the nasal bone is an essential attribute of all decent rhinos (however, not decent ones either).

And also the rhinoceros, the largest land mammal after the elephant - the length of the rhinoceros is from 2 to 5 meters, with a height of 1-3 meters and a weight of 1 to 3.6 tons.

The colors of rhinoceros depend on their species, in fact, at first glance, it seems that the names of rhinoceros species actually came from their colors: white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros. But not everything is so obvious and unambiguous here, the fact is that the real skin color of both white and black rhinos is the same - gray-brown, but due to the fact that these rhinos love to wallow in the ground of different colors, which colors them in different colors, and their names went.

The head of a rhinoceros is long and narrow, with a steeply lowered forehead. Between the nasal bones and the forehead has a concavity, somewhat similar to a saddle. The small eyes of a rhinoceros with brown or black pupils look very contrasting in their size against the background of their large head. As we mentioned at the beginning, things are not important with the eyesight of rhinos, they are only able to see moving objects from a distance of no more than 30 meters. In addition, the fact that their eyes are located on the sides does not give them the opportunity to properly examine this or that object, they see it first with one eye, then with the other.

But the sense of smell in rhinos, on the contrary, is perfectly developed, and it is on it that they rely the most. Interestingly, the volume of the nasal cavity in rhinos is larger than the volume of their brain. Hearing is also well developed in these giants, the ears of rhinos are like tubes that constantly rotate, catching even faint sounds.

The lips of rhinos are straight and clumsy, with the exception of the Indian and black rhinos, which have a movable lower lip. Also, all rhinos have 7 molars in the dental system, which are greatly erased with age, in addition to teeth, Asian rhinos have incisors that are absent in African rhinos.

All rhinos have thick skin, which is almost completely devoid of wool. The exception here is the modern Sumatran rhinoceros, whose skin is still covered with brown hair, and the woolly rhinoceros that once lived in our latitudes, which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day along with the same woolly mammoth.

The legs of the rhinoceros are heavy and massive, each foot has three hooves, as a result of which it is very easy to recognize by the rhino tracks where these giants walked.

rhinoceros horn

The rhinoceros horn is his calling card and should be mentioned separately. So, depending on the species, a rhinoceros on the nose can grow either one or two horns, with the second horn located closer to the head of a smaller size. Rhinoceros horns are made up of the protein kerotene, by the way, human hair and nails, porcupine quills, bird feathers, and armadillo shells are made of the same protein. Horns develop from the epidermis of the skin of rhinos.

In young rhinos, when wounded, the horns are restored, in old ones, no longer. In general, all the functions of the rhinoceros horn have not yet been fully studied by zoologists, but for example, scientists have noticed such a curious fact - if a horn is removed from a female rhinoceros, then she will cease to be interested in her offspring.

The owner of the longest horn is the white rhinoceros, in which it reaches 158 cm in length.

Where does the rhinoceros live

In our time, only 5 species of the once numerous family of rhinos have survived, 3 of them live in Southeast Asia, these are the Indian rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Javanese rhinoceros, and 2 species live in Africa, these are black and white rhinos. Below we describe each type in more detail.

How long does a rhinoceros live

The life expectancy of rhinos is very long, so African rhinos live on average 30-40 years in the wild, and live up to 50 years in zoos. But the longest-living rhinos are the Indian and Javan rhinos, which can live up to 70 years, almost as long as a human lifespan.

Rhino lifestyle

All rhinos live alone, without creating herds. The exceptions are white rhinoceroses, which form small herds consisting of a female and cubs. Male and female rhinos come together only for the duration of mating. Despite such a peculiar hermit lifestyle, rhinoceroses also have friends among other representatives of the animal world, so dragging, small birds, constantly accompany rhinoceroses, pecking insects from their skin and, at the same time, bringing them closer with their cry about possible danger. Not without reason in Swahili the name of these birds "wa kifaru" sounds like a protector of rhinos.

Each rhinoceros has its own territory - a pasture area and a pond, which is its personal "land", it jealously guards its territory. Rhinos mark the borders of their "possessions" with heaps of manure, which also serve as a kind of "aromatic" landmark, allowing them to navigate in space and stay within their "lands".

Rhinos are especially active in the early morning and in the evening twilight, at which time they actively feed to get enough, which, given their large size, is not always an easy task. But day and night, rhinos, as a rule, sleep on their stomachs or rolled over on their sides, or take their favorite “mud baths”. Rhinos sleep very soundly and they say that at this time you can easily sneak up on them and even grab them by the tail (but still we highly recommend that you do not do this))).

Rhinos are cautious animals, therefore, including from us humans, they try to stay away, but when they feel danger, they always attack first, and they attack very violently. That is why, when meeting with a rhinoceros, you need to behave extremely carefully and delicately, an angry rhinoceros can run at a speed of 40-45 km per hour, and nothing can stop such a running carcass, for example, it can quite easily ram and even turn over a light one.

What does a rhinoceros eat

Rhinos are herbivores, however, they are very voracious, so on average a rhinoceros eats up to 72 kg of plant food per day. The main food for rhinos is grass and fallen trees. Black and Indian rhinos are not averse to feasting on the shoots of trees and shrubs. Sugarcane is a favorite delicacy of the Indian rhinoceros, while the Sumatran rhinoceros is very fond of various fruits, especially figs and mangoes.

Rhino Enemies

The main enemy of rhinos is, of course, a man who in the old days mercilessly exterminated these animals, including for the sake of their famous horns, which are believed to have various healing properties. Until they were exterminated to the point that now all 5 species of rhinos are listed in, because due to their low numbers they are on the verge of extinction.

In natural conditions, other animals, given the size and cautiously suspicious disposition of rhinos, try to bypass them. But different predators may well hunt for rhino cubs: lions, crocodiles. But with an adult large rhino with thick skin and a sharp large horn, they can’t cope with it.

Well, it's time to describe in more detail the 5 species of these horned giants that exist in nature.

white rhino

It is the largest rhinoceros in the world, and oddly enough, the least aggressive of the rhinos. Its body length is 5 m, height 2-3 m and weight 2-3 tons, although there are also heavy white rhinos, weighing 4-5 tons. Also, this rhinoceros has two horns, the main horn is the largest in the rhino family, and in addition to it, there is another smaller horn closer to the head. The white rhino lives in East and South Africa, on the territory of such countries as South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Botswana.

This species of rhinoceros is extremely dangerous due to its aggressive nature. When a person approaches, even if it is an innocent tourist with a camera, he can react quite nervously, so you should keep your distance from him. Just like the white rhinoceros, it has two horns, one large and the other small, but somewhat smaller. The body length of a black rhinoceros is up to 3 m. Also, a characteristic difference of a black rhinoceros is the presence of a mobile black lip. The black rhinoceros lives in a number of countries in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa: in South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.

As you probably guessed, the homeland of the Indian rhino is India, but in addition to it, Indian rhinos also live in Nepal. The body length of the Indian rhinoceros is on average 2 m and with a body weight of 2.5 tons. The horn of the Indian rhinoceros is only one, and unlike African rhinos, it is not sharp, but more blunt, convex.

The only modern rhinoceros species to have a skin covered with a little hair, which is why it is sometimes also called the "hairy rhinoceros". It is also the oldest among all rhinos. The body length of the Sumatran rhinoceros is 2.3 m and weighs 2.25 tons. Among the rhinos, the Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest, but despite this, it remains one of the largest representatives of the animal world of our planet. The Sumatran rhinoceros lives on the island of Sumatra (in Indonesia), also in Malaysia.

This rhinoceros is in a particularly deplorable state, according to zoologists, only about 50 individuals of the Javan rhinoceros have survived at the moment. It lives only on the island of Java in a reserve specially created for it, in which every effort is made for its subsequent conservation. The Javan rhinoceros is similar in size and build to the Indian rhinoceros, but its distinctive feature is the complete absence of horns in females. Only male Javan rhinos have horns. The folds of his thick skin are somewhat reminiscent of knightly armor.

Rhino breeding

Rhinos reach sexual maturity in the 7th year of life. But the male rhinoceros can start the process of copulation with the female and the process of reproduction only after he acquires his territory. Usually it takes another 2-3 years of life to do this. The mating season for rhinoceroses usually happens every one and a half months, during this period the male begins an intensive search for the female, which is interesting when the male rhinoceros is chasing the female rhinoceros, they can even fight. But then the female still yields to the pressure of the male, and mating occurs.

The pregnancy of a female rhinoceros lasts a year and a half, and she has only one baby. A newborn rhinoceros weighs 25 kg, but already very quickly begins to gain weight. Interestingly, white rhino babies are born hairy. After a few days, little rhinos are able to follow their mother, and after three months there are plants. However, during this period, the basis of their nutrition is mother's milk. For a whole year, the female rhinoceros feeds her children with breast milk. It should also be noted that small rhinos are deprived of horns, which begin to grow in them in the 2nd-3rd year of life.

• The inhabitants of Europe first saw the rhinoceros only in 1513, it was handed over to the Portuguese navigators by the Indian Raja Cambay. At first, the outlandish beast was put up for the amusement of the crowd, then the Portuguese decided to send it as a gift to the Pope, but on the way on the ship the rhinoceros went berserk, pierced the side of the ship and drowned.
• The World Wildlife Fund WWF has established a special "Day of the Rhino" which is celebrated on September 22.
• The large woolly rhinoceros elasmotherium once lived in forests, on the territory, including our country of Ukraine, as well as in many other places in Eurasia. Unfortunately, it died out 8 thousand years ago.
• The word "rhinoceros" itself is found in the name of many other animals, for example, there is a rhinoceros beetle, -rhinoceros, hornbill, -rhinoceros, hornbill fish. All of them have horns, which makes them look like our today's hero - a rhinoceros.

Rhino, video

And in conclusion, an interesting video about the crazy attacks of a rhinoceros, filmed on camera.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and of high quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish / question / suggestion to my mail [email protected] or on Facebook, with respect, the author.

What is rhino horn made of?

Contrary to what some of you might think, rhino horn is not hair at all.

It is made up of extremely thin, tightly woven fibers of a horny substance called keratin. Keratin is a protein found in human hair and nails, as well as animal claws and hooves, bird feathers, porcupine quills, and the shells of armadillos and turtles.

The rhinoceros is the only animal whose horn is composed entirely of keratin; unlike the horns of livestock, rams, antelopes and giraffes, there is no horn core inside the rhinoceros horn. From the skull of a dead rhinoceros, you won't even guess that a horn was once present here; during the life of the beast, the horn was securely attached to a rough outgrowth on the skin above the nasal bone.

If you cut off or damage the horn of a rhino, it literally unwinds, but in young individuals it can grow back. No one knows what its real function is, although females whose horn has been removed, for some reason, completely stop looking after their offspring.

Rhinos are endangered, and this is primarily due to the huge demand for their horns. African rhinoceros horn is highly prized in the Middle East, especially in Yemen, both for medical reasons and for traditional dagger hilts. Since 1970, 67,050 kg of rhinoceros horns have been imported into Yemen. With an average weight of 3 kg per horn, this means that 22,350 rhinos were killed.

Mankind cannot get rid of the misconception that rhinoceros horn is a powerful aphrodisiac. Chinese herbalists tell us that this is not the case, that the effect of the horn is more cooling than warming, and that it is generally used in the treatment of high blood pressure and fever.

Name rhinoceros(Rhinoceros (English).) comes from two Greek words: rhino("nose") and keras("horn"). Today, there are five species of rhinoceros in the world: black, white, Indian, Javanese and Sumatran. Of the Javanese, only sixty individuals survived. This is the fourth most endangered species - after the Chinese lake dolphin from the Yangtze River, the marmot from Vancouver Island and the case-tailed (or bag-winged) bat that lives in the Seychelles.

The white rhino is not white at all. Word white actually distorted wait, which means "wide" in Afrikaans. This definition refers to the animal's mouth rather than to the volume of its chest, since, unlike black individuals, whites lack the movable lips normally used to eat tree branches.

Any rhinoceros has an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but vision is just a nightmare. Rhinos usually live alone and converge only for mating.

If caught off guard, a rhinoceros will urinate and defecate profusely. When attacking, the Asiatic rhinoceros bites; the African attacks by rushing forward. The black rhinoceros, despite its short legs, can run at a speed of 55 km/h.

Rhinoceros is a combination of two Greek words meaning nose (rhino) and horn (ceros). Today there are five types of rhinos:

1. There are a number of other animals that have names similar to the rhinoceros.

Puffin rhinoceros, common rhinoceros beetle, hornbill fish, Malayan gomrai hornbill, iguana rhinoceros, rhinoceros viper, white rhinoceros shrimp and others. All these animals are so named because they have a semblance of horny appendages on their noses.

2. Rhinos are also called thick-skinned.

Their name also comes from two Greek words thick (pachys) and skin (derma). Many years ago, zoologists grouped together thick-skinned animal species such as rhinos, tapirs, horses, hippos, pigs, peccaries and hyraxes. But this classification is not currently used, although the name is sometimes applied to the above animals.

3. Rhino is used as a pseudonym

A certain number of people have earned themselves the nickname "rhinoceros". These are American professional wrestler and actor Terry Guerin, Mark Smith from British gladiator shows, Iron Butterfly guitarist Larry Reinhardt and former British footballer David Unsworth. The national rugby teams in South Africa and Indonesia are also referred to as Rhinos.

4. Rhinoceros horn is not bone, but keratin (the material found in your hair and nails)

The rhino's horn is not attached to the skull. In fact, it is a dense mass of hair that continues to grow throughout the life of the animal, just as our own hair and nails grow. The record for the longest horn belonged to a white rhino and was 152 centimeters. Paradoxically, neither human nails nor hair have the healing properties that some people believe the similarly formulated rhinoceros horns have. If people believed that they would be healed with the help of their hair and nails, then a huge number of rhinos would be preserved.

5The Fossilized Skull Of An Ancestor Of The Rhinoceros (The Extinct Woolly Rhino) Was Thought To Be The Skull Of A Dragon

In the city of Klagenfurt, located in southern Australia, there is the "Dragon Fountain" or "Lindwurm", which has the body of a crocodile and the wings of a bat. The fountain was built in 1584, 30 years after the discovery of the skull in the surrounding areas. For construction, the skull was used as a model for the head of a dragon, and only a century later, scientists were able to identify the skull as belonging to the woolly rhinoceros, which became extinct during the last ice age.

6. The closest living relatives of the rhinoceros are tapirs, horses and zebras.

These animals are known as odd-toed ungulates. Rhinos have three fingers on all limbs, which are shaped like an ace of clubs.

7. Some rhinos use their teeth instead of their horns for protection.

When the Indian rhinoceros is defending itself against predators or another rhinoceros, it does not try to gore its opponent with the horn. Instead, it strikes with long, sharp incisors and fangs. Neither the black nor the white species of rhinoceros have incisors. Only the Indian and Sumatran rhino species possess fangs, with all five species having three molars on each side of their upper and lower jaws.

8. An adult white rhino can produce about 23 kilograms of dung per day.

This is the result of the rhinoceros consuming large amounts of plant material. The nuances in the smell of the litter can tell a lot about the owner, as each one is unique. The litter of a young rhinoceros differs in smell from the litter of an adult male. There are also differences between the smells of the female and the male, since during the period of estrus in the female it is specific.

9. White rhino is not white and black rhino is not black

The white rhinoceros got its name from the African word "wyd", meaning "wide", meaning the wide muzzle of the animal. Early English settlers in South Africa mistranslated the word from the African language and since then, the species of rhino has been called white. Black rhinos were probably named for the dark, wet mud that sticks to the animal and creates the black color. Taking mud baths for a rhinoceros is considered a vital procedure. Essentially, both species are gray in color.

10. Rhino's Pregnancy Lasts 15-16 Months

The only animals with a longer gestation period are elephants, which have a gestation period of almost 2 years. Camels and giraffes carry their young for 13 to 14 months, while female horses, sea lions and dolphins can take up to a year. The duration of pregnancy in a bear is about seven to eight months, in a lioness less than four months, and in domestic cats and dogs about two months. The record for the shortest gestation period in a mammal is 12 to 13 days in the Virginian opossum, a water opossum from Central and South America.

11. Rhinos and elephants are not mortal enemies.

The myth of hatred between these two species of animals dates back to ancient times. In 1515, King Manuel I of Portugal decided to test this myth. He had a female Indian rhinoceros named Ganda, who found a home in the royal menagerie, away from the elephants. But one day, the king arranged a fight between the beasts, with the participation of the royal family and guests. The youngest elephant in the king's menagerie was brought into the arena from the stable. The tapestries hiding the rhinoceros were left open. The official observer writes that the rhinoceros appeared in a rage and immediately attacked his enemy so hard that the young elephant broke out of the chains, began to scream loudly and overcame a thick barrier with iron bars. This incident certainly helped to support this myth.

12. The white rhino is the largest species of rhinoceros and the largest land mammal after the elephant.

A white rhinoceros can reach a weight of 2000-3600 kilograms, which is equal to the weight of a Land Rover. Next in size is the Indian rhinoceros, which is taller than the white but slightly less massive. Then comes Javanese and black rhinoceros. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest of its kind, with the largest faces barely weighing a ton. A large one can exceed the size of the largest rhinoceros somewhere by as much as half a ton, and since it spends most of its time in rivers and lakes, biologists consider the hippopotamus to be an aquatic, and not a terrestrial mammal.

13. Perhaps the most famous rhinoceros in the world was a female Indian rhinoceros named Clara.

Clara toured Europe for 17 years, in the 18th century. Clara's mother was killed by hunters in Assam (India) in 1738, after which Clara was adopted by Jay Albert Sitcherman and became his pet. Then she was sold to a Dutch sea captain and ended up in Rotterdam. Clara's European travels are documented in Glynis Ridley's Clara's Grand Tour. Traveling with a Rhino through 18th Century Europe” includes stops in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, France, Italy, Denmark and England.

14 African Rhinos Have A Symbiotic Relationship With Buffalo Starlings

In Swahili, these birds are called askari wa kifaru, which means "guarding the rhinoceros". Buffalo starlings feed on ticks and other animals they find on rhinoceros, and also create a commotion when they sense danger. This helps alert the rhinoceros. Indian rhinos have a similar symbiotic relationship with other bird species, including the famous myna.

15. Humans are a serious threat to rhinos, but some other species are also dangerous.

According to the data, two species of animals most often attack rhinos - young lions in Africa and tigers in Asia. However, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and Nile crocodiles have been known to kill African rhino cubs at the right opportunity. Although, of course, man remains enemy No. 1 for the rhinoceros.

16. Most wild rhino cubs have never met their fathers.

After mating, adult males and females usually separate. Then the baby is born and matures next to the mother, while having close contact with other females and cubs, but the father is not part of the standard social group.

17. Three of the five surviving rhinoceros species - black, Javanese and Sumatran - are endangered.

This means that there is at least a 50% chance that these species could become extinct as early as this century. Just over 5,000 black rhino now live in nine African countries. It can be said that species actually have slow growth rates. Sumatran rhinos are found from the foothills of the Himalayas to the island of Sumatra. However, only 100 individuals are known to date and are believed to have survived as scattered populations in Indonesia and Malaysia. The historical range of the Javan rhinoceros is similar to that of the Sumatran rhino. Currently, the population of the Javan rhinoceros has no more than 50 individuals, and the distribution area is limited to the Ujung Kulon National Park in the west of the Java Peninsula.

18. The black rhinoceros has a prehensile upper lip that allows it to feed on trees and shrubs.

The black rhinoceros also lacks front incisors, so it has to rely on its lip to carry food into its mouth. Unlike the black one, the white rhinoceros has a long, flat lip that is more suited to grazing on the grass. A black rhino can be compared to a tree pruner, and a white rhino can be compared to a lawn mower. The upper lips of Asian rhino species are also somewhat prehensile, and in this they are similar to bears, horses, llamas, elks, and manatees.

19. Black, white and Sumatran rhinoceros have two horns, while Javanese and Indian have one horn

Although the Sumatran rhinoceros has two horns, this does not mean that it is closely related to African rhinos (black and white species). In fact, the Sumatran rhino's closest relative is believed to be its extinct ancestor, the woolly rhinoceros, and the species is the oldest surviving rhinoceros, dating back about 15 million years. White and black rhinos are similar and descended from a common 6 million year old ancestor and are still very closely related. The evolutionary paths of the Indian and Javan rhinoceros have diverged slightly in recent times, and their common ancestor is between two and four million years old. Interestingly, most female Javan rhino do not have any horn at all.

20. Rhinoceros horn has been used in traditional Asian medicine for centuries, but has not been proven to cure any disease.

Dried rhinoceros horn has been prescribed by many physicians as a cure for a wide range of ailments, including ailments in the elderly such as arthritis, asthma, chickenpox, convulsions, coughs, demonic possession, diphtheria, dog bites, dysentery, epilepsy, fainting spells, fever, food poisoning, hallucinations, headache, hemorrhoids, impotence, insanity, laryngitis, malaria, measles, melancholy, memory loss, myopia, night blindness, nightmares, plague, polio, rectal bleeding, scorpion stings, snake bites, toothache, typhoid fever, vomiting and worms. There are no Western scientific studies that prove the healing properties of rhinoceros horn, but at least one Chinese one casts doubt on these data. And, of course, the use of rhino horn is illegal.

21. Andatu became the first Sumatran rhinoceros to be born in captivity in Indonesia

On June 23, 2012, a female Sumatran rhinoceros known as Ratu gave birth to a 27 kg male in an Indonesian nature reserve. 16 months earlier, female Ratu mated with male Andalas, who was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2001 and was believed to be the first Sumatran rhinoceros born in captivity in over a century. The baby Andalas and Ratu were named a combination of their parents' names, and Andatu in Indonesian means "Gift from God".

22. World Rhino Day is celebrated on September 22

Every September, people who want to help save rhinos from extinction can do so by participating in World Rhino Day.