ORDER PERISSODACTYLA I ODD-TOED UNGULATES 379 



Terai. One sees all over the place high bamboo shelters which are 

 built in their cultivations, and these during certain seasons of the 

 year are occupied at night by Nepalese in order to have bells, gongs, 

 and so on, to frighten the rhinoceros away during their night feeding 

 in the cultivations. . . . 



"One of the methods of poaching which is being used from time 

 to time is building deep pits into which the rhinoceros falls." 



Lt.-Col. F. M. Bailey, of the British Legation, Nepal, writes (in 

 litt., March 16, 1936) : "Yesterday I had a talk with His Highness 

 the Maharaja about the numbers of Indian rhinoceros in Nepal. 

 He told me that it was estimated that in 1910 there were about 1,100, 

 in 1930 the number had dwindled to about 100. Very strict measures 

 were taken to preserve them and he told me that he now estimates 

 there must be some 200 and there is every sign that they are on the 

 increase." 



Assam. "This rhinoceros is very plentiful along the Terai and in 

 the Durrung, Nawgong and Goalpara districts in Assam" (Pollok, 

 1879, p. 95) . 



"Mr. Shebbeare has taken great pains in an attempt to estimate 

 the approximate number of R. unicornis still surviving in Assam 

 (North Bengal). They first occur about 51 miles south-east of 

 Darjeeling and there are sporadic occurrences along the foothills 

 for about 330 miles due east as far as Sibsagar. In this long strip 

 of country he estimates that not more than 220 specimens survive 

 to-day." (Hobley, 1932, pp. 20-21.) 



Milroy (1934, pp. 99-101) contributes the following information: 



The two Game Sanctuaries [Monas and Kazirunga] . . . were originally 

 selected for the Great One-horned Rhinoceros . . .., and a very fine stock 

 of these animals was raised as the result of the protection afforded. . . . 



The rhinoceros, our most important animal from the natural history point 

 of view, is a difficult species to preserve even though its destruction is 

 forbidden by law .... The demand for rhinoceros' horns has always been 

 considerable in India, but of recent years China has also been in the market, 

 consequent on the practical extermination of R. sondaicus in Lower Burma, 

 Tenasserim, etc., with the result that a horn is now worth just about half 

 its weight in gold. The prospect of a lucrative business led to an organiza- 

 tion being formed for passing on rhinoceros' horns and elephant tusks to 

 Calcutta, and the disturbed political conditions provided the virile Boro 

 tribes (Meches and Kacharies) living near the Monas with the opportunity 

 to take up poaching on a large scale. 



The operations of the financiers in the background were checked for the 

 time being; the advent of the Assam Rifles restored order; additional game- 

 watchers were engaged, and an Assistant Conservator was placed in charge 

 of the Sanctuary .... 



Apart from the two Sanctuaries mentioned previously, the rhino have one 

 remaining refuge, namely the Balipara Political Area. Here some very valuable 

 protection has been afforded to this animal in one area by a planter who is 

 an enthusiastic game preserver. 



