Rhino

Join a Zoo Education Specialist and watch our zookeepers train our greater one-horned rhino. Many of our animals voluntarily allow keepers and vet staff to manage their health and well-being using positive reinforcement. Training consists of shaping a natural behavior such as opening the mouth wide, or being still to enable a close inspection, give vaccinations and draw blood. Greater one-horned rhinos have skin that looks like armor plating, and their single horn, made of keratin, is used for foraging for roots and not just fighting. They are the second-largest rhino species, can weigh up to 6,000 pounds, and have poor eyesight but excellent hearing and sense of smell. They also have a semi-prehensile lip that acts like a finger to help them grab food.