 Reference Base  De dierenwereld van Insulinde in woord en beeld, I: De zo... |
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Balen, J.H. van, 1914. De dierenwereld van Insulinde in woord en beeld, I: De zoogdieren. Deventer, J.C. van der Burgh, pp. i-vii, i-xi, 1-505
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Behaviour - Towards Man |
| Species: |
Sumatran Rhino |
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It is less courageous and therefore less dangerous. His temperament is shown by the encounters told by Dr Hagen.
Hagen says that 'it often happens that a rhinoceros, during his walks, finds itself in the middle of a new tobacco plantation and it seems then that he is unhappy with this new garden in the middle of his forest. He is not shy or bad, only when it is teased or suddenly found. For instance, shortly before my arrival at the plantation in Serdang, where I would be the doctor, the following had happened. To the surprise of all the Chinese one day there was a large rhinoceros in the tobacco fields and the animal threatened to destroy all the plants. The Chinese, who did not know the animal and thought that it was a cow on the run, tried to scare it away by yelling and when that did not succeed, they decided to throw a loop around the neck and to take the animal to the house of the manager. They succeeded to put a rope around the neck but when they tried to pull it, the animal moved, all the people fell on the ground and the rhinoceros returned to the forest.
Another rhinoceros which entered the plantation in the evening, stood gazing at the house of the assistant manager for quite a while, enough time for the man to run for his gun. He shot at the animal but as there were only small bullets in it, the rhino just got frightened and returned into the forest. However, they are not always that calm and I know a plantation manager who once met a rhinoceros which just attacked and he could only save himself with a very lucky shot.'
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