Can rhinoceroses really put out fires?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the myth that rhinoceroses can extinguish fires, a claim popularized by the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. This legend, particularly noted in Malaysia and Burma, refers to the Malay term 'badak api', meaning 'fire rhinoceros'. Despite the intriguing nature of this belief, there is no scientific evidence or documented sightings to support the claim, especially as rhinoceros populations in Southeast Asia have dwindled due to illegal poaching. The conversation also touches on the idea that rhinos may instinctively avoid fire due to their understanding of its dangers.

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Ivan Seeking
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I happened to catch a favorite movie of mine, The Gods Must Be Crazy,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_Must_Be_Crazy
which is currently running on FMC [Fox Movie Channel] and well worth the watch if you go for this sort of thing; in fact, a classic one-of-a-kind, IMO.

Mentioned in the movie is the claim that if a rhinoceros sees your fire he will come and stomp it out.

There are a number of legends about rhinoceroses stamping out fire. The story seems to have been common in Malaysia and Burma.

This type of rhinoceros even had a special name in Malay, 'badak api', where badak means rhinoceros and api means fire. The animal would come when a fire is lit in the forest and stamp it out.

Whether or not there is any truth to this has not yet been proven, as there has been no documented sighting of this phenomenon in recent history. This lack of evidence may stem from the fact that rhinoceros sightings overall in South East Asia have become very rare, largely due to widespread illegal poaching of the critically endangered animal.

The idea of rhinos stamping out fire featured prominently in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy and also in an episode of The Simpsons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros
http://www.sosrhino.org/knowledge/faq.php
 
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Ivan Seeking said:
I happened to catch a favorite movie of mine, The Gods Must Be Crazy,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_Must_Be_Crazy
which is currently running on FMC [Fox Movie Channel] and well worth the watch if you go for this sort of thing; in fact, a classic one-of-a-kind, IMO.

Mentioned in the movie is the claim that if a rhinoceros sees your fire he will come and stomp it out.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros
http://www.sosrhino.org/knowledge/faq.php

"Ivan"; rhinos put out fires because they understand that fire and gas don't mix. They spend all day eat grass and farting, the fire is a danger that could get them killed. They are just being cautious.
 

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