EHINOCEROS. 



THE CHARACTER GENERALLY OF RHINOCEROSES. 



When very young and small the rhinoceros is not 

 usually bad tempered, in fact many are playful, and if a 

 large ball or small cask were allowed it in its paddock 

 the animal would roll and tumble it about for hours, 

 pushing it with that part of the head where the horn 

 would eventually be formed. Long before the beast 

 becomes adult it is dangerous to enter the den or paddock 

 when the animal is at liberty. It may be simply an act 

 of playfulness on its part, but it would rush suddenly 

 upon you and on account of its great weight and strength 

 there would be much danger of being crushed. 



Some of the species, such as R. lasiotis and B. sumatrends, 

 being of smaller size and less irritable, are by no means 

 so dangerous as the one-horned R. unicornis of India, and 

 the two-horned R. hicornis of Africa. The two latter are 

 never to be depended upon. 



The savage manner in which the Indian species will 

 attack the bars of its den or walls of its prison, beating 

 itself furiously against any structure and, in more than 

 one instance, tearing off the horn and leaving the skull 

 bare, is well known. 



A large Indian rhinoceros living in the Gardens, while 

 attempting some few years ago to tear down the iron fence, 

 tore the horn bodily from its position on the head. 



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