KINGDOM OF NEPAL (1768 – 2008)
REIGN OF BIRENDRA BIR BIKRAM SHAH (1972-2001)
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SERIES – THE GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 68 ULTRA CAMEO
CONTAINS: 33.43 GRAMS OF .900 GOLD
(0.9675 OZ AGW)
34 MM IN DIAMETER
MINTAGE: 671
OBV: UNIFORMED BUST OF KING BIRENDRA RIGHT WEARING JEWELLED CROWN WITH LONG FEATHERED PLUME; NEPALI DATE BENEATH.
REV: GREAT INDIAN RHINO LEFT STANDING ON PATCHES OF GRASS.
THE GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS, ALSO CALLED THE GREATER ONE-HORNED RHINOCEROS (RHINOCEROS UNICORNIS), IS NATIVE TO THE SUBCONTINENT OF INDIA, LIVING IN NORTHERN INDIA AND SOUTHERN NEPAL. IT’S HABITAT OF ALLUVIAL GRASSLAND AND RIVERINE FORREST IS IN RAPID DECLINE FROM HUMAN AND LIVESTOCK ENCROACHMENT. IT IS A HERBIVORE, WHETHER GRAZING ON LAND OR IMMERSED IN WATER.
THE STATUS OF THE SPECIES IS CONSIDERED VULNERABLE, BUT DUE TO STRICT CONSERVATION EFFORTS OF BOTH THE INDIAN AND NEPALESE GOVERNMENTS, AND ALTHOUGH POACHING IS A MAJOR CONTINUING CONCERN, NUMBERS HAVE INCREASED FROM AROUND 200 INDIVIDUALS IN THE 20th CENTURY, TO AROUND A CURRENT 3,550.
THE INDIAN RHINO IS THE SECOND LARGEST MAMMAL IN ASIA, AFTER THE ASIAN ELEPHANT. MALES GROW UP TO 13 FEET IN LENGTH AND 7 FEET IN SHOULDER HEIGHT, FEMALES 12’ AND 6’ RESPECTIVELY. MALES CAN WEIGH TO AROUND 4,550 LBS, AND FEMALES 3,530, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SPECIMENS WEIGHING IN AT UP TO 8,820 LBS! THE BODY APPEARS LIKE IT HAS SEGMENTED ARMOR THAT IS ACTUALLY PINKISH SKIN FOLDS.
THE SINGLE HORN, FOUND ON BOTH GENDERS, STARTS GROWING AROUND 6 YEARS OF AGE, AND IS MADE OF PURE KERATIN. THE HORN GROWS TO ABOUT 10”, BUT A HORN OF 14” HAS BEEN RECORDED. THE HORN IS THE REASON FOR POACHING BECAUSE OF ITS USE IN CHINESE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE, OR IT CAN BE POLISHED FOR CARVING LIKE IVORY. IT’S EFFECTIVENESS AS MEDICINE, SINCE IT IS MADE OF 100% KERATIN, THE SAME MATERIAL THAT MAKES UP HUMAN HAIR AND FINGERNAILS, IS A DEBUNKED CLAIM THAT SADLY PERSISTS. AS ONE ECOLOGIST AT THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SAID, “YOU’LD DO JUST AS WELL CHEWING ON YOUR FINGERNAILS.”
ON THE OBVERSE OF THIS COIN IS KING BIRENDRA OF NEPAL (b. 1944, d. 2001). HE WAS SHOT DEAD, ALONG WITH 10 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY DURING A PARTY, BY HIS SON CROWN PRINCE DIPENDRA, IN WHAT IS CALLED “THE NEPALESE ROYAL MASSACRE”. AFTER SHOOTING HIS FATHER, MOTHER, AND OTHER RELATIVES PRESENT, DIPENDRA SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD. HE SLIPPED INTO A COMA, DURING WHICH HE WAS MADE KING. HE DIED 3 DAYS AFTERWARD. HE WAS SUCCEDED ON THE THRONE BY HIS UNCLE GYANENDRA, WHO WAS NOT PRESENT AT THE MASSACRE. KING GYANENDRA RULED UNTIL 2008 AMIDST POLITICAL TURMOIL, WHEN THE NEPALESE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DECLARED THE COUNTRY A REPUBLIC AND ABOLISHED THE MONARCHY.
