The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-01-22 00:00:00

CAPTURE OF A RHINOCEROS FOR THE

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, CALCUTTA.
"C. T. B. (Zoological Gardens, Calcutta)," sends to Land
and Water the following account of the capture of a young

"I think it would be a pity that the story should
not be told of the manner in which our new young
rhinoceros was caught. When our old rhinoceros
died, about four months ago, I wrote to all the neigh-
bouring Princes and Powers having rhinoceros in their
.jungles, asking them to try and catch a new rhino-
Ceros for us, and I have a fair collection of promises of
the best intentions on the part of many great and
good men to catch a rhinoceros for us this cold
weather. But I luckily also wrote to an old nath e
friend named Seyd Typmul Ali, who was a police
officer under me in Chittagong thirty-five years
ago, and is now a deputy magistrate of high rank
stationed in the district of Backeronge, adjoin-
ing the Sunderbrun, in which a few rhinoceros are
still to be found. My old friend kindly undertook
the task, and having found a suitable agent in one
Ramjan Ali, a hardy and intelligent man from Chit-
tagong. Pk amjan Ali was despatched in a boat into
the Sunderbrun, about three months ago, with four
nativ.s huntsmen accustomed tp kill tigers and rhino-
ceros in that inhospitable region of swamp and
jungle. In the course of time they shot three rhino-
ceros, the last of which was a female with a young one
about eighteen months old (so far as I can guess). When
the mother was shot the young one would not leave
its mother's body, and the men think they might have
easily caught it the first (lay; but they thought it was
too big to be caught by hand, so they dug pitfalls in
tonvenient places near the mother's body, and for
some days tried, without success, to drive the young
animal into a pitfall. At last they managed to find
the young one on the side of a tidal ditch, full of rich,
soft mud, into which they pushed or drove it, and
as it was struggling in the deep mud one of the
huntsmen pluckily jumped on its back and held
on by its ears, whilst the others 'hustled 'it until a
rope was got to secure the captive, after which he
was safely conveyed on board the boat and brought to
Calcutta, where he now adorns our Zoo. I have said
that he seems t be about eighteen months old. He
stands nearly three feet high, and from the end of his
snout to the tip of his tail he must be six feet long. I
am sorry that I have not taken the exact measure-
ments, bnt I should miss this mail if I sent to take
them. His body is as big round as that of a Shetland
pcny ten hands high. In fact, when you see him you
cannot help feeling that the only way to catch him
was to jump on his back and lay hold of his large pro-
jecting ears. I tell you the tale as it was told me by
the man Ramyan Ali, who brought the rhinoceros
straight to me, when of course I asked him to tell me
how they had contrived to catch such a big animal.
You may be sure that Ramjan All had never heard of
Watert6'n's performance on the Cayman, far less
could tht story have reached the native huntsman
who had the pluck to jump .on the beast's back.
"We have now had . the young rhinoceros at
our Zoo for about three weeks, and I can only
describe him as an "awfully jolly little beast."
He is quite quiet, and allows himself to be
handled, whilst his appetite for plantains knows
no limit. He never got plantains in the Sunderbrun,
where he was raised. He still drinks milk, and was
evidently still being suckled by the mother when the
mother was killed, It is most amusing to hear him
talk, for lie utters a whole string of loud and dis-
cordant noises, much more approaching to speech
than anything uttered by any other fourfooted animal,
barring perhaps the braying of a donkey, though that
it is in altogether a different line. When our little
fellow sees a friend approach the gate of his prison,
tae comes forward and begins to talk. I can almost
identify the sounds by which he says "plantains."
Meanwhile, my great hope and desire are that the
young rhinoceros may live healthily and happily to the
lasting honour of my old friend Seyd Typmul Ali, to
whom we are indebted for this most welcome con-
tribution to our Zoo."