Rhinoceros Ugly yet Beautiful; Fierce yet Calm

Beneath that hard exterior, this beast of yore is calm and relaxed. Herein lies their beauty. The rhino, something else altogether

Rhinos, as they are known, are among the oldest mammals on earth. Generally passive, this massive being prefers its own company, living solitarily and happily. Rhinos play a crucial role in sculpting their ecosystems, making them a keystone species that requires protection.

Our acquaintance with many wild animals was made at the zoo in Bombay which was then called Victoria Gardens. When we think of it now, we realise what a wonderful place it was and what a fulfilling part of our childhood.

There was a rhino there, the same one for decades, old and slow, but massive. It had a pool of its own, which is where it would usually be lazying, half submerged. Every time we visited the zoo, which was at least twice a month when we ran to the fascinating rhino enclosure, we would always find a crow perched on the back or the head of the rhino!

It's a creature which looks ancient, almost prehistoric, which it is. The rhino story dates back 50 million years when their ancestors emerged shortly after the dinosaurs and long before mankind! Fossil records show that the world was teeming with as many as 100 species of rhinos. Their decline, it is believed, could have been due to being out-competed by the newly-evolved elephant! 

There was a time when rhinos roamed throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. But slowly their habitation area decreased. At the beginning of the 20th century half a million rhinos roamed in Africa and Asia, by the 1970s the number dropped to 70,000 and today less than 27,000 of them are left in the wild; mainly in India, Nepal, Africa, Java and Sumatra.