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Asian rhinoceros

Rhinoceros unicornis

Natural diet Asian rhinoceros

Grasses
Herbs
Leaves

The Asian rhino is an intermediate grazer and browser, although it mainly consumes grasses. However, dependent on the season, its diet can contain up to 50% of browse.

Feeding advice Asian rhinoceros

Feed quantity per day

1-2.5% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 3000 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

3000 x 0.02 = 60 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

10% Concentrates
60% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
30% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.1 x 60 kg = 6000 g concentrates
0.6 x 60 kg = 36000 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.3 x 60 kg = 18000 g browse

Diet suggestions

Not recommended

Vegetables
Fruits

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughage and/or browse, dependent on the season.
The ratio between grass hay and lucerne hay should be 50:50 (read more about browsers and grazers).
The browse used in the diet can be a mixture between dried and fresh browse.
It is not recommended to feed the rhinos from the ground since they might ingest sand which increases the risk of colic.
Hang or hide the feed (not in sand) to reduce the risk of colic and increase foraging behaviour (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Colic
Obesity
Laminitis
Foot problems
Cardiovascular problems
Farmer’s lung

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

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Denise Flemming

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