Diet
| The Sumatran rhino eats a wide range of plants, such as: (clockwise from top left), Mallotus, mangosteens, Ardisia, and Eugenia. | |
Most feeding occurs just before nightfall and in the morning. The Sumatran rhino is a browser, with a diet of young saplings, leaves, fruits, twigs and shoots. The rhinos usually consume up to 50 kg (110 lb) of food a day. Primarily by measuring dung samples, researchers have identified more than 100 food species consumed by the Sumatran rhinoceros. The largest portion of the diet is tree saplings with a trunk diameter of 1–6 cm (0.4–2.4 inches). The rhinoceros typically pushes these saplings over with its body, walking over the sapling without stepping on it, to eat the leaves. Many of the plant species the rhino consumes exist in only small portions, which indicates the rhino is frequently changing its diet and feeding in different locations. Among the most common plants the rhino eats are many species from the Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae and Melastomataceae families. The most common species the rhino consumes is Eugenia.
The vegetal diet of the Sumatran rhinoceros is high in fiber and only moderate in protein. Salt licks are very important to the nutrition of the rhino. These licks can be small hot springs, seepages of salty water or mud-volcanoes. The salt licks also serve an important social purpose for the rhinos—males visit the licks to pick up the scent of females in oestrus. Some Sumatran rhinos, however, live in areas where salt licks are not readily available, or the rhinos have not been observed using the licks. These rhinos may get their necessary mineral requirements by consuming plants rich in minerals.
Read more about this topic: Sumatran Rhinoceros, Behaviour
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