Super Zoo

Chapter 470 They Can't Take the Rhino Away

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Upon hearing Adnan's words, Zhao Yun, who had always remained composed, and Ludmila, who feared neither heaven nor earth, frowned simultaneously.

If it were about money, there might be room for negotiation, but when it comes to religious issues, especially in places like the Middle East, anything related to religion is a huge problem, with virtually no room for negotiation. Recklessly offering money wouldn't only fail to make the other party back down, but might also backfire, making them feel it was an insult to their faith.

What would be the consequences of insulting a Middle Eastern person's faith? Just look at Basel on the plane to know. This was worse than digging up someone's ancestral grave in Huaxia.@@@@

"Boss, this entire row of soldiers are Lure people from the same tribe. Their tribe's Meilik needs a large amount of powdered rhino horn to perform religious ceremonies to communicate with their deities. That's why they must take the two rhinos," Adnan interpreted.

Suming was puzzled as Zhao Yun explained, "'Meilik' is the chief of a tribe – usually the most elderly and prestigious shaman in a religious tribe. The Lure are a minority ethnic group in Iraq, numbering less than five thousand, living in the mountainous area where the government forces, IS, and Kurds converge in the north, and they support the government forces. Soldiers from such small tribes are only loyal to their own tribes, and the government doesn't have much control over them. Also, religious ceremonies are very sacred here, and you must not profane them."

Suming nodded, letting Adnan inquire, "Do they need that much rhino horn? There are two rhinos, can't they just saw off a piece of the horn and take it away?"

After all, what he needed were the rhinos. Missing a piece of horn wasn't a big deal; it could still grow back, and the other side wasn't intending to eat the rhino meat.

Unexpectedly, the opposing officer quickly shook his head and pulled out a wrinkled document. Adnan looked at the document and helplessly told Suming, "They insist on taking both rhinos. The government departments have already agreed, and they have the approval document."

"How about offering them money?" Suming finally pulled out his trump card, "As long as they can leave the rhinos, I can pay them a considerable sum of cash. Of course, the rhino horns are still theirs to take."

Adnan hesitantly translated, and the officer immediately became furious. This time there was no need for interpretation; their expressions said it all.

"Are we still talking sense here? Stubborn as a mule!" Suming was getting annoyed. This was like slaughtering the chicken and wanting the eggs too. He had already agreed to give them the rhino horns, so why insist on the rhinos themselves? It was sheer stubbornness.

"The one being unreasonable is you. They have government approval; taking the rhinos away is legal!"

The Baghdad Zoo was much larger than the private zoos they had visited in the afternoon, nearly half the size of Yangchuan Zoo. Along the way, the various animals were not kept in iron cages like those at the private zoos but had their own little areas instead. However, many of these areas were empty and in disarray, with no animals in sight.

A large sunken concrete pool, over a hundred square meters in size, was half filled with mud and the other half with grass. Two huge one-horned rhinoceroses were lying motionless in the mud.

"My god, they're huge!" Nangong Huang was observing real rhinos up close for the first time, and the visual impact was quite strong.

An adult one-horned rhinoceros weighs about two tons, and what does that amount to? A strong tiger weighs roughly two to three hundred kilograms, which is about five to six hundred jin, but two tons...

Two thousand kilograms, a full four thousand jin—if the 'density' were the same, that would make their volume six to seven times that of a grown tiger.

Of course, one cannot make such a simple conversion. To put it in perspective, the height of the back of a grown tiger is about the same as Suming's navel, while the height of the back of a grown rhinoceros is about the same as Suming's nose. The two rhinos lying in the mud looked like slightly smaller elephants.

"What a pity," Zhao Yun couldn't help but shake his head.

A squad of soldiers had already prepared a large iron cage and was urging zoo staff to herd the rhinoceroses into the cage to be taken away.

"Dear, take one last look at your Huaxia rhinos," Ludmila said, folding her arms.

"Who's your dear? Don't falsely claim a relationship!" Suming glared at her and, pointing confidently at the rhinos below, said, "They won't be able to take the rhinos away!"

Zhao Yun and Nangong Huang looked puzzled at Suming simultaneously, while Ludmila scoffed dismissively, saying, "There's a saying in Huaxia, 'A drowning man will clutch at a straw.' It fits you perfectly right now."

Suming couldn't bother with her, instead pointing below and saying, "Haven't you noticed? Those two rhinos are already dead."

Following the direction of Suming's finger, the two large one-horned rhinoceroses nearby remained motionless, indeed appearing as if they were dead.

In most Islamic sects, dead objects are considered unclean. If those two rhinos were indeed already dead, this group of soldiers would never use any part of a dead rhino for a religious ceremony—it would be sacrilege!