The feet have three short toes tipped with broad, blunt nails. Their massive bodies are settled on short, stumpy legs. They may grow to 14 feet (4.3 meters) long and 6 1/ 2 feet (2 meters) high at the shoulder. Rhinoceroses are ponderous, hoofed mammals found in eastern and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Yet the rhino’s horn is simply a mass of keratin-a fibrous protein found in the hair, nails, and outer skin of mammals.
Most are killed for their horns, believed by some East Asian peoples to be an aphrodisiac, or sexual stimulant. Despite protective laws, they continue to be hunted because parts of their bodies are credited with some medicinal value in folk medicine. Nearly all species of rhinoceroses are threatened, and some are close to extinction.
0 kommentar(er)
