378 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



"Present range: 4 or 5 in the Jalpaiguri Forests, 56 in the Riparian 

 Forests bordering the Torsa and Malangi Rivers and wet forests of 

 Kanbari. 



"Causes of depletion: in Jalpaiguri Forests: probably shooting 

 and poaching and possibly disease. In the Buxa Division the species 

 showed up to 1932 tendency to extinction due to heavy poaching. 

 Since 1933 they are increasing in number. The horn is worth 8 to 10 

 times its weight in silver. The hide is also valuable. ... A Game 

 Sanctuary to the extent of 26 sq. miles is being maintained." 



In years gone by, in this general region, the animals were suffi- 

 ciently numerous or destructive to have called for the establishment 

 of a bounty. "They sometimes will travel long distances to reach 

 rice and corn fields, and do immense mischief, so much so that 

 there is a Government reward of twenty rupees to anyone shooting 

 a rhinoceros" (Baldwin, 1876, p. 144) . 



Nepal. This species is "decreasing rapidly in Nepal. In the 

 Morang District of the Nepal Tarai this rhinoceros was plentiful 

 not many years ago, but now not a single specimen is, I believe, to be 

 found within two hundred miles." Several specimens were collected 

 in the Gandak Valley in 1923. (Faunthorpe, 1924, pp. 179-188.) 



Further information is as follows (Anonymous, 1934, p. 89) : 



Along the numerous rivers which flow through the jungles of the Nepal 

 Terai the rhino has particular places for dropping its excreta. Mounds so 

 accumulate in places. In approaching these spots a rhinoceros walks back- 

 wards and falls an easy victim to poachers. . . . 



The food consists chiefly of grass. In Nepal during the rains Rhinoceros 

 frequently enter cultivation. . . 



In Nepal the flesh and the blood of the Rhinoceros is considered highly 

 acceptable to the Manes. High caste Hindus and most Gurkhas offer libation 

 of the animal's blood after entering its disembowelled body. On ordinary 

 Sradh days the libation of water and milk is poured from a cup carved from 

 its horn. The urine is considered antiseptic and is hung in a vessel at the 

 principal door as a charm against ghosts, evil spirits and diseases. These 

 beliefs connected with the Rhinoceros are prevalent in varying form in Burma, 

 Siam and China. They set a great value upon the animal and provide the 

 main reason for its persecution. In Nepal, the Indian Rhinoceros is found 

 only in the country to the east of the Gandak river known as Chitawan 

 where strict preservation by the Nepal Government has saved it from 

 extinction. 



Twenty to thirty years ago, according to the Bombay Natural 

 History Society (in litt., December, 1936), it "was still common in 

 the Sikhim Terai and in Nepal as far west as Rohilkund." 



Arthur S. Vernay writes (in litt., March 11, 1936) on economic 

 conditions: 



"I think . . . that there is one mistake he [Shebbeare] has made, 

 that is in regard to the crops being destroyed by the rhinoceros. This 

 is one of the chief complaints which the Nepalese have in the Nepal 



