160 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
THE RHINOCEROS. 
BY F. C. SELOUS. 
OF the five existing species of Rurno- 
CEROS, three are found in Asia, whilst two 
are inhabitants of Africa. 
Of the three Asiatic species, two, the 
Inp1An and the Javan, are one-horned, and 
have a single pair of broad incisor teeth in 
the upper jaw, and a pair of sharp-edged and 
pointed tusks in the lower, the nasal bones 
being long and narrow, and terminating in 
a point. In both these species the skin is 
hairless (except for tufts or fringes at the 
extremity of the tail and on the edges of 
the ears), and is arranged in shield-like folds 
over the body. The arrangement of these 
folds, however, differs somewhat in the two 
species, and the large round tubercles with 
which the skin of the great Indian rhinoceros 
oa Se hae a phar! . . ’ . . : 
fim ee a RR RO is profusely studded are wanting in the Javan 
eae ee tale Bete OS isa = Ss mPa 
Photo by W. P. Dando species. 
HAIRY-EARED SUMATRAN RHINOCEROS The Inpian Rurnoceros inhabits the 
This species is found in Eastern Bengal and in the Malay Peninsula and Terai at the foot of the Himalaya from Bhutan 
adjacent large islands to Nepal, and is said to be very abundant in 
Assam and the Bhutan Dooars. It frequents 
swampy ground, and lives amongst jungles and dense growths of reeds and grass, which attain a height 
sometimes of 20 feet, and cover vast areas of ground in the valley of the Brahmaputra and other rivers. 
Owing to the nature of the country in which it lives, the Indian rhinoceros cannot often be 
hunted with much prospect of success, except with the aid of elephants, which sagacious animals 
are not only employed to carry the hunters, but are also used to beat the great grass jungles in 
which the rhinoceroses lie hidden, and drive them towards the guns. 
Despite its great size and strength, the Indian rhinoceros seems to be regarded as, in 
general, a timid and inoffensive animal, and even when wounded it seldom charges home. 
Elephants, however, appear to be as a rule nervous when in the near proximity of rhinoceroses, 
perhaps objecting to the smell of those animals. When the Indian rhinoceros does make good 
its charge against either man or elephant, it cuts and rips its enemy with its teeth, and makes 
little use of its horn as an offensive weapon. 
The Indian rhinoceros is said to live principally, if not entirely, on grass and reeds. Asa 
rule it is a solitary animal, but sometimes several are found living in a comparatively small extent 
of grass-covered plain. 
Large males of this species will stand from 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet at the shoulder, and they 
are enormously bulky. Both sexes carry well-developed horns, which, however, do not usually 
attain a length of upwards of 12 inches. There is a specimen in the British Museum measuring 
19 inches, and it is believed that in very exceptional instances a length of 2 feet has been attained. 
The Javan Runoceros, though it has been called the Lesser Indian Rhinoceros, is said by 
a late authority—Mr. C. E. M. Russell—to stand about the same height at the shoulder as the 
Indian species. It is found in the Sunderbunds of Eastern Bengal, and has been met with in the 
Sikhim Terai and in Assam, ranging eastwards through Burma and the Malay Peninsula to 
Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. 
