One Horned Rhino >> Food

The rhinoceros feeds mainly on grasses, and also fruit leaves, branches of small trees and shrubs and also the cultivated crops. The activity starts generally from evening, while feeding on tall grasses rhinoceros curls its prehensile upper lip around the grass stems bends the stems over and bites off, and chews the top. Drinking normally lasted only a minute or two, and mineral licks are visited regularly. In total they feed on 183 species of plants (80%, mainly Saccharum Spontaneum) and submerged and floating aquatic plants.

In the zoo, they were fed by caretakers in certain interval of time. The food is laid in a concrete basin. As the rhinoceros was in captivity, it often browse around in the field premises and drink water from the concrete basin or puddle. Rhinos mainly feed on 'Saccharum Pharagmites' and show a preference for Imperata. They also eat charred stalks and new shoots of 29 species of grasses and bushes around wallows and river beds. It is believed that all of them are eaten by animals. They prefer 'Cyprus species' in wet areas and 'Cynodon dactylon' in dry areas.

As they are true herbivores, prefer flood plain grassland and riverine forest. Saccharum spontaneum, Saccharum bengalense, Narenga porphyrocoma and Trewia nudiflora are the best food of rhinoceros. This grass species is the fundamental food resource of comprising more than 60% of animal diet. Sal Shorea robusta forest associated with species such as Dillennia pentagyna, Syzigium cumini, Trijuga oleofera, Lagerstromia parviflora,Terminalia tomentosa, Triwa nudiflora T. bellerica, Phyllanthus emblica comprises 70% of the park area & are seldom used by rhinos. Inundation by regular flooding of the alluvial plains along major rivers creates favorable condition for quick appearance of sprouts & germination to maintain the dominance of Saccharum spontaenum.

The diet of rhinoceros consisted of a diverse species of plants, but >70% of the volume in the diet was contributed by less than ten species. Saccharum spontaneum, Arundo donax, Cyanodon dactylon, Saccharum bengalensis and Erianthus ravennae, and four browse species: Mallotus phillippinensis, Dalbergia sissoo, Callicarpa macrophylla, Calamum tenuis etc. composed about 75%of the diet.

The proportion of plants groups varied remarkably between seasons, but the pattern was not identical. Grass species constituted ca 92% of the total diet during the monsoon but it constituted the lowest proportion during the winter. The highest proportion of browse species was recorded during winter 31% and 30% in hot seasons. The agricultural crops were most important during winter>13% and lowest during the monsoon < 5%. Others were eaten mainly during winter and constituted larger proportion. Therefore, the monsoon flood is very critical for maintaining rhino habitat. Oxbow lakes and other open water bodies are also very critical for rhino.