Super Zoo-Chapter 473 - 468: The Great Rhinoceros
"What rhinoceros?!"
Upon hearing that the soldiers wanted to take away the "rhinoceros," Suming immediately panicked, and asked Ludmila in an anxious shout, "Which rhinoceros, is it that most famous one... woof woof...?"
Before he could finish speaking, his mouth was blocked by a small paw. The koala climbed up Suming’s clothes to his shoulder, scratching his face with a tiny paw.
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Suming grabbed the skin behind the koala’s neck, lifting it like a little cat, its limbs hanging down, and its two bright little eyes looking at Suming.
"Stop it." Suming tossed the koala to Nangong Huang, Nangong Huang stretched out his hands and caught the little guy mid-air, and the little guy started to climb up his clothes again.
"Is it the Great One-horned Rhinoceros?" Suming finally managed to ask the full question.
Among the many animals in Baghdad Zoo, there were two star animals: the Great One-horned Rhinoceros.
The Great One-horned Rhinoceros, also known as the Indian Rhinoceros, has an impressively majestic appearance. It has wide folds at the shoulders, underneath the neck, and around the joints of its limbs, making its body appear as if it’s wearing armor pieced together with metal plates, closely resembling the war armor from ancient Huaxia. The males have a thick and short, yet very hard, rhino horn on the front of their nose, hence the name "Great One-horned Rhinoceros."
An adult Great One-horned Rhinoceros is a colossal creature, weighing close to two tons, with a height at the shoulder that surpasses that of an adult human. It is the second-largest land animal in Asia, only smaller than the Asian Elephant, and is the fifth-largest land animal in the world, following the African Elephant, African Forest Elephant, Asian Elephant, and the White Rhinoceros.
Rhinoceroses are rather unfortunate creatures; when it comes to fights, there are few animals in the world that can beat them. Even those larger in size than them, such as the Asian Elephant or African Elephant, might not be a match for a rhinoceros in a real fight. A hit from the horn of a rhinoceros running at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour will make an elephant spit up three liters of blood.
A common man is guiltless; it is the possession of the jade that brings the blame, and the problem lies in the rhinoceros horn. On the international market, the value of rhinoceros horn is 5 to 10 times that of an equivalent weight in gold!
Although the poison of a pufferfish is also valuable, it requires high technology to extract, but there is no such issue with rhinoceros horns. Shoot the rhinoceros dead, saw off the horn, and that’s it.
Under the drive of exorbitant profits, the populations of various rhinoceros species are rapidly decreasing. It was common to see rhinoceros bodies lying by the roadside in former rhinoceros habitats, their horns mercilessly sawed off.
The two Great One-horned Rhinoceroses at Baghdad Zoo were also endangered, with only about 3000 left worldwide. Of course, the White Rhinoceros was even more precious, but there was only one left in the world, guarded around the clock by four fully armed policemen in Kenya, which Suming definitely couldn’t get his hands on.
"Of course, it’s those two Great One-horned Rhinoceroses, the zoo only has those two!" Ludmila said.
"Get them!" Suming exploded with rage.
Perhaps the Great One-horned Rhinoceros was not as precious as the White Rhinoceros, but for Suming, and even for the whole of Huaxia, the significance of the Great One-horned Rhinoceros was even more substantial.
His trip to Baghdad had a lot to do with those two Great One-horned Rhinoceroses; he had made up his mind before coming that no matter the cost, even if it meant resorting to deception, he must bring back the two Great One-horned Rhinoceroses!
Even Mr. Song himself had personally instructed him that with other animals, buy them if possible, but it wouldn’t matter too much if he really couldn’t. The only exception was the two Great One-horned Rhinoceroses—they had to be brought back!
Because the Great One-horned Rhinoceros, aside from being known as the Indian Rhinoceros, had another name: The Huaxia Rhinoceros!
The Huaxia rhinoceros is a collective term referring to three species of rhinoceros that lived in China, with the giant one-horned rhinoceros being the largest among them.
Tragically, the Huaxia rhinoceros has gone extinct in its native Huaxia homeland!
Huaxia people have a sense that rhinoceroses are not native to Huaxia but rather imported species. In reality, however, Huaxia was once the country with the most rhinoceroses in the world.
Records indicate that as early as the Shang Dynasty, rhinoceroses were widely distributed across Huaxia, with large herds even in the Central Plains and the Jianghuai region. Encountering a rhinoceros in the wild was as common as coming across a rabbit in the mountains today, perhaps even more likely.
From ancient times, rhinoceroses were treasured: their meat was edible; their horns, sharp weapons; and in periods of rudimentary metallurgy, their hides were the best armor, able to withstand attacks from swords and arrows and prime materials for making shields and armor.
Wielding Wu spears and clad in rhino armor, their chariots arranged closely with short weapons at hand.
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the Yangtze River Basin was teeming with rhinoceroses. Rhino hide armor was even standard issue for Wu soldiers. A gilded city is nothing, at the peak of its power, Wu’s army of a hundred thousand, clad in rhino armor, was a force truly amassed by gold.
Emperor Taizong of Tang was particularly fond of raising rhinoceroses, but unfortunately, his care was so poor that every one he raised died, wasting a great deal of money. Wei Zheng told him bluntly, "As a sovereign, you should understand your strengths and weaknesses. In governing a state, you are the best emperor ever, but when it comes to raising rhinoceroses, your skills are terrible. Therefore, you should focus on your strength: statecraft, and not raising rhinos."
Wei Zheng’s critique was so pleasing. Old Li laughed and said, "You’re absolutely right. I should just quietly be a good emperor." He then sent all the rhinoceroses back to their homelands to be released.
Several emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty similarly liked to keep large animals such as rhinoceroses and elephants. It is recorded that the court beast tamers could line up dozens of rhinoceroses and elephants, which would parade one by one in front of the emperor and salute, a truly spectacular sight.
It wasn’t until after the Ming Dynasty that rhinoceros numbers began to decline greatly. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, only scattered rhinoceroses could still be seen in Yunnan. The rhinoceros truly went extinct in Huaxia after the Republic of China era.
"Heart to heart as if by telepathy, watching the moon thinking of the rhinoceros..." These are the ancient Huaxia poems derived from rhinoceroses.
Once the world’s largest habitat for rhinoceroses, modern times have seen no rhinoceroses found in Huaxia, a truly regrettable situation.
Therefore, Suming must bring these two Huaxia rhinoceroses back!
The dispute at the zoo continued, with soldiers, all armed, surrounding the zoo employees at the center. The leading officer’s tone was very fierce, and several people dressed in zoo uniforms explained fearfully.
"How bold these people are, to dare rob animals from a national zoo with the government army?" Nangong Huang exclaimed in surprise.
Zhao Yun was unfazed and said, "It’s just like the warlord chaos back in our country. During times of war, these soldiers don’t have their heads on straight, fighting for the government when called upon, yet the government turns a blind eye to lesser military discipline."
"It might even be with the government’s silent consent. The Iraqi government, short on military pay, lets these blockheads wreak havoc as long as they find their own means to get money," Suming snorted. He spoke to Adnan, "Go ask them what is going on, why are they trying to steal the rhinoceroses?"
Adnan jumped out of the vehicle, walked over to the group of soldiers with a submissive look, and had just uttered a couple of words when one of the troopers pushed him roughly away, making him retreat several steps and fall on his bottom. Stay updated via novelbuddy
