Rhinoceroses: Top 10 facts facts about Rhinos

1. The only northern white rhinos left are Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter.

2. It is hoped that the sub-species can be saved from extinction by artificial insemination.

3. The earliest reference to a rhinoceros in English was in 1398. In ancient Greek it means “nose-horn”.

4. The abbreviation “rhino” only became popular in the late 19th century. Before that “ready rhino” was occasionally used as slang for “money”.

5. A rhino’s horn is made of keratin, the same protein as makes our hair and fingernails.

6. White rhinos are grey. Their name is a mistranslation of the South African Dutch “weid” (wide) referring to its wide mouth.

7. A rhinoceros has three toes on each foot. 

8. In 2017 a page on the dating site Tinder was opened for the last male northern white rhino. “I like to eat grass and chill in the mud,” he said.

9. Macbeth is the only Shakespeare play than mentions a rhinoceros.

10. In the 16th and 17th centuries the phrase “rhinoceros nose” was used to mean turning up the nose as a sign of sneering contempt.