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The Soul of the Rhino: A Nepali Adventure with Kings and Elephant Drivers, Billionaires and Bureaucrats, Shamans and Scientists, and the Indian Rhinoceros

2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 16; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/isle/isp039

1759-1090

Joel T. Heinen,

Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

In the interest of full disclosure, let me state that I know this author, for I have had the privilege of doing research with Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation for over two decades. Yet there is much I did not know, as foreigners are kept from many Royal secrets. One we have heard about but never seen is Tarpan, a religious ritual dating to the Rajput Kings of India from whom Nepal's Royal Family descended. It is said that a new king must kill a male rhino and, after it is eviscerated, enter the animal's body. Mishra, then a young wildlife officer, describes the burden of choosing the proper rhino (an old crop raider), as well as the elephant driver's disdain as the author repeatedly checked over the course of several weeks to make sure the old male had testicles, for there would be serious repercussions if a female were accidentally killed. On the auspicious day, after the King ascended from the dead beast, others in the hunting party were asked if they wished to enter, and so Mishra acquired the Soul of the Rhino.