IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 



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placed horizontally about 6 inches apart, or it may be surrounded by a 

 strong brick wall about 3 feet high, with 2 feet of strong iron fencing 

 built above and into it. Under ordinary circumstances, a rhinoceros 

 does not require a shed or house in this climate ; but it is much better 

 to anticipate emergencies and provide one: there may be exceptionally 

 bad seasons, or an animal may require isolation and seclusion from 

 sickness or other causes. Before placing two or more animals together, 

 their temper and idiosyncracies should be watched ; a pair of Sumatran 

 rhinoceroses have been known to fight constantly with each other, the 

 male generally being the aggressor. They had ultimately to be separated. 

 This incompatibility of temper may, however, be accounted for by the 

 weak state of the female's health ever since her arrival. On the other 

 hand, a female lasiotis and a male sumatrensis agreed very well. 



Food. — In its wild state a rhinoceros feeds exclusively on leaves 

 and branches of trees, and, like elephants, requires a large quantity to 

 fill its stomach. Of all kinds, it appears to like the jack-fruit leaves 

 best, but they are costly, and sometimes not procurable at all ; the best 

 substitute for these are the gulher {Finns glomorata) leaves ; it also 

 feeds on other species of fig leaves, but it is better to restrict it to jack 

 and gulher as much as possible. In captivity the leaf diet is usually 

 supplemented by soaked gram and bran ; they must have salt every day, 

 and a small quantity of goor every now and then. 



Breeding. — On the 30th January 1889 a young hybrid (between 

 R. lasiotis and R. sumatrensis) was born. Both the parents had been 

 living in the garden since June 1882, and it is the second recorded 

 instance of rhinoceroses breeding in captivity. On the evening of the 

 29th January the female (R. lasiotis) was noticed to be somewhat 

 restless ; she refused her usual rations of gram, bran and salt, though 

 every now and then she browsed some leaves and branches. Early 

 next morning, she was in acute labour pain, very restless, and after 

 intense suffering of nearly an hour, she suddenly got up and the 

 young one was born. 



The mother took no notice of the young one, which looked more 

 like a lump of animated clay than a young rhino. After about an 

 hour and a half, and not until after several ineffectual attempts, it got 

 up at last and began to look for nourishment, but evidently did not 

 know where to find it. It was weak and very unsteady in its move- 

 ments, and could not walk three yards without tumbling. At 1 p.m. 

 the mother was fed on oatmeal gruel, and the young one on a quart of 

 cow's milk. At 4 p.m. the mother had her usual food consisting of 

 soaked gram and leaves, but the calf receiving no nourishment jet 

 from the mother was fed a second time on cow's milk about 6 p.m. and 

 again about 10 p.m. at night. During the course of the night the 

 young began sucking the mother, and henceforth there was no neces- 

 sity for artificial nourishment. The young animal was now very 

 lively and playful, and was already inclined to explore the enclosure, 

 but as the banks of the tank were, in some places, steep and rugged, a 

 temporary fencing was erected to keep the mother and young one within 

 bounds, and prevent the latter from tumbling down and injuring itself. 

 Measures were taken to prevent visitors approaching near the enclosure, 

 as the female evidently disliked being looked at by a crowd. 



