CHAPTER V 



SPORT IN UPPER BURMA 



RHINOCEROS SUMATRENSIS THE ASIATIC TWO-HORNED 

 RHINOCEROS. [W. S. THOM] 



To those desirous of becoming better acquainted with this 

 rhino's haunts, habits, and appearance, Blandford's descrip- 

 tion of the animal in his Fauna of British India may not be 

 amiss. here. He describes this animal as the smallest of living 

 rhinoceros and the most hairy, the greater part of the body 

 being thinly clad with hair, and the ears and tail more thickly 

 covered. The two horns are some distance apart at the 

 base ; both are slender above, except in the case of females, 

 which have mere stumps a few inches, and the anterior horn 

 of the male in fine specimens elongate and curve backwards. 

 The skin is usually rough and granular ; the folds, though 

 much less marked than in the one-horned species, are still 

 existent, but only that behind the shoulders is continued 

 across the back. Colour, varying from earthy-brown or black. 

 Dimensions, somewhat variable. The type of Sclater's R. 

 lasiotis was 4 feet 4 inches high at the shoulder, and 8 

 feet long from snout to root of tail ; its weight about 2000 

 Ibs. An old female from Malacca was only 3 feet 8 inches 

 high; the average height of adults is probably 4 feet to 4 

 feet 6 inches. The largest known specimen of the anterior 

 horn measures 32 inches over the curve. Skull, 20 inches ; 

 basal length, 11*25 inches zygomatic breadth. 



Varieties. Specimens from Chittagong and Malacca .were 

 living at the same time in the Zoological Society's Gardens, 

 London, in 1872, and the former was distinguished by Sclater 

 as R. lasiotis, by its larger size, paler and browner colour, 

 smoother skin, longer, finer, and more rufescent hair, shorter 



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