Nepal, Chitwan, Rhino I Approached on Foot, 1984
Nepal, Chitwan, Rhino I Approached on Foot, 1984

Nepal, Chitwan, Rhino I Approached on Foot, 1984 - Gabrielle, Ed and I were in a machan in Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal near the border with India. Chitwan is famed for its large population of Indian One-Horned Rhinocerous. I told Gabrielle and Ed I was going down on the ground to get a close-up of the rhino. When I got to the base of the machan, they called down to me not to go near her, as she had a baby. I thought they were just trying to scare me from going, so I crept closer. When I was within about twenty-five feet of her, I saw the baby rhino. As the camera shutter snapped, the rhino reared her head. As rhinocerous are almost blind but with an acute sense of hearing, she listened to assess the danger. I had two choices: stand still or run barefoot. I chose to run. So did the rhino. She was actually running for the safety of the forest but I thought she was running after me. Fortunately she wasn't. She passed me going off in a slightly different direction. Rhinos run faster than humans. I wrote, "I felt, for the first time in my life, afraid for my life, afraid for my life because of a wild beast."

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