Rhinoceroses

"If ever you meet a rhinoceros And a tree be in sight, Climb quick! for his might Is a match for the gods: he could toss Eros!"

"Did you ever see the Rhinoceros, and the Hippopotamus, at the Zoological Gardens, trying to dance a minuet together? It is a touching sight."

"Pity the poor old rhino with A bodger on its bonce."

"Keith Sommerville’s new book, “Africa’s Threatened Rhinos: A History of Exploitation and Conservation” (London: Pelagic Publishing, 2025), is a sweeping chronicle of centuries of slaughter. He reminds us that rhinos have been killed for every conceivable reason or unreason. Early indigenous hunters obtained meat and leather. Taken to the circuses by the Romans, they were killed by gladiators. Sport, with American President Theodore Roosevelt alone killing hundreds. Yemeni dagger culture, where only a rhino-horn handle confers respect. And most devastatingly, Chinese medicine has transformed horn powder into a panacea for everything from fever to cancer. …As animal lovers, Rosita [Šorytė] and I dream of a time when rhinos will no longer need to be dehorned to survive. Sommerville’s book reminds us that conservation is not only about protecting animals—it is about confronting corruption, dismantling myths, and exposing the cynical bureaucrats who profit from extinction."

"The rhino is a homely beast, For human eyes he's not a feast. Farwell, farewell, you old rhinoceros, I'll stare at something less prepoceros."