The rhinoceros is remarkable for possessing nasal passages that are larger than its brain.

It is also the world's most endangered large, land-dwelling mammal, hunted to near extinction by the vain and the sexually desperate. This mottley collection of odd-toed ungulates once formed a vast family that included the largest land mammal ever to walk, or possibly stomp, the earth. The rhino's horn is actually an outgrowth of compacted hair, so those who feel the need to ingest it on the dubious grounds that it increases sexual prowess, or to own a small jewelled dagger made of the stuff, could just as well use something extracted from the U-bend of their shower.

Generally associated with its heavyweight compatriots, the elephant and hippopotamus, the rhinoceros is actually more closely related to the horse, but under no circumstances should you attempt to saddle one up.

Rhinocertidae

There are five species of rhinoceros alive today, spread across three continents:

• The White Rhinoceros is so called not because of the colour of its skin, which is a mid-grey, but from a mistranslation of the Afrikaans¹ word weit meaning 'wide' and referring to the animal's square-lipped mouth. The white rhino exists as two sub-species, although there is some debate over the real distinction between the two, which may be more behavioural than genetic. The southern white rhino has experienced a recent up-turn in fortunes in its native South Africa following successful conservation and breeding programmes, and now numbers in the thousands. The white rhinos you see in zoos are mostly southern. The northern white rhino, confined to the Democratic Republic of Congo's Garamba National Park, sporadically a battle zone, numbered maybe a couple of dozen before civil war broke out. This meagre population would most likely have been lost to poachers long ago if it wasn't for the efforts of Kes and Fraser Hillman-Smith, heroes of 'Last Chance to See' and ably supported by the World Wildlife Fund and the International Rhino Foundation among others.

• Black Rhinoceroses are those you are most likely to see in zoos, wildlife documentaries, and appeals for funds. These are so named not for the colour of their skin, but for the simple fact that they are not white. Where white rhinos have wide lips, ideally suited for grazing, black rhinos have a prehensile upper lip which helps them to browse from the shrubbery. Both African species (black and white) have two horns, one behind the other, the front one being the longer.

• The Greater One-Horned Asiatic Rhinoceros, or Indian rhino for short, is the largest of the terrane² rhinos alive today. As the name suggests, the Indian has just the one horn. Its thick, warty and gnarled armour-like skin was made famous by Durer's classic woodcut, immortalised on the cover of Lawrence Norfolk's novel The Pope's Rhinoceros. The male Indian rhino is startlingly well-endowed, has deadly aim in the urinating backwards stakes, and is an accomplished abstract artist. Foremost among the species' maestros is the now legendary Kumar of Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, Bedfordshire, England, whose original master-pieces may be purchased from the Park for a very reasonable sum.

• The least known rhinos on Earth are the Javan and the Sumatran. The Javan, or lesser one-horned asiatic rhino, lives on Java. The Sumatran is unusual for being covered in reddish-brown hair and is also unusual for having the rear horn longer than the front one. Little is known about either species because they inhabit such remote areas, and it is thought that their populations number in the low hundreds.

Action

If you wish to help save the last straggling remains of the rhino population, there are many organisations who will be pleased to make good use of your money. Of these, two of the most significant are the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), both of which run a number of sponsorship and adoption schemes. You may also choose to sponsor captive breeding of rhinos; London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo in the UK (among others) and the National Zoo at Oregon in the USA all have such programmes.

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¹ Afrikaans is one of the official languages of South Africa.
² Terrane refers to land.