In the Izu Animal Kingdom, every effort is made to keep the environment as authentic and natural as possible.
It is said that the rhinoceros is the strongest animal in the animal kingdom.
During the day, the white rhinoceros stay in an enclosure with a big pond.
There is a tour that allows you to approach and even touch the white rhinoceros.
This tour starts at the bridge located in the centre of the enclosure.
First, the zookeeper puts hay on the bridge for the rhinoceros.
Then as the rhinoceros eats, its face becomes accessible from the bridge and it makes safe and easy to touch.
In Chinese traditional medicine, the horn of white rhinoceros is believed to be efficacious in the treatment of fever, rheumatism, gout, and other disorders.
In fact, the main component of the horn is keratin (a protein), which is similar to human hair and nails.
Overall there is not much evidence to support the plethora of claims about the healing properties of horns.
Nonetheless poachers have drastically reduced the number of white rhinoceros, threatening its extinction.
