ORDER PERISSODACTYLA I ODD-TOED UNGULATES 401 



spoor of young accompanying them. They believed that the few 

 remaining animals in the region were so scattered that they were not 

 breeding. In 1899 they were "fairly common on the southern side of 

 the Haud [in Somaliland] . . . and again south of the Webbi Shey- 

 belli" (Stracker, in Bryden, 1899) . Drake-Brockman, in 1910, wrote 

 that it was no longer to be found south of Burao, but was still 

 present in the Haud and Nogel Valley, toward the Ethiopian border, 

 and was said to be plentiful in Ogaden. On account of persecution 

 he predicted that "a few more years will see its disappearance from 

 all save the most remote regions." In 1932, Swayne (in Maydon, 

 1932, p. 235) regarded it as "almost extinct" in British Somaliland, 

 though probably still found in Ogaden. It formerly "penetrated 

 north to Toyo Plains in Ogo." 



Unlike the somewhat more peaceably inclined White Rhinoceros, 

 the Black Rhino is rather truculent and at times dangerous, of poor 

 eyesight, but keen of scent and hearing. On being approached, it 

 is quite as likely to come charging down upon the source of the 

 disturbing sound or smell as to dash away out of sight. At close 

 quarters, it is as agile as a polo pony and may follow up its charge 

 and make matters disagreeable. For this reason it becomes a source 

 of danger if, as in the case mentioned in the Nyeri district, its 

 numbers become too great in settled or agricultural localities. Other- 

 wise, it is a harmless animal, browsing contentedly on twigs and 

 sheltering by day in dense thickets of thorn scrub. As the surviving 

 member of its genus, Dicer vs, and one of the end forms of an evolu- 

 tionary line of ancient development, it possesses peculiar interest 

 and deserves protection, but this can best be given in special re- 

 serves. The chief menace to which it is exposed is from hunting by 

 natives, which cannot always be stopped in thinly populated 

 districts. The Somalis value its hides especially for making their 

 small round shields, in which they take much pride, as after a time 

 these become whitish. Some of the native tribes will eat the flesh. 

 But the chief reason for its pursuit by natives and white poachers 

 is for its horns, which are sold to the Chinese to be ground up for 

 medicine in the potency of which they have great faith. To this 

 cause is laid the great reduction in its numbers in the French 

 Cameroons, Somaliland, and Ethiopia, and its continued pursuit 

 elsewhere. C. W. Hobley writes (1936) : "There is little demand for 

 rhino horn in Europe but in China high prices are still paid for 

 supposed medicinal uses, and this is the danger, for although legal 

 export is forbidden, smuggling still continues and is difficult to 

 check." This for Kenya Colony. Lavauden (1933) says: in "French 

 Africa it is seriously threatened, thanks to the ridiculous trade in 

 rhino horn." In the French Cameroons there is apparently a good 

 deal of such illicit hunting by the natives, and this is not easily 

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