Rhinos are believed to have an interesting characteristic: if they see a fire (e.g. a campfire), they immediately run to it and start trampling the flames. Sometimes rhinos are even called "savannah firemen" or simply "firefighters". Do rhinos really have such a high level of social responsibility that they consider it their duty to put out any fire before it spreads and causes damage to the environment?
The greatest contribution to the spread of rumors about fire-stomping rhinos was made by travelers who camped out in the middle of the savannah, where rhinos live. The fact is that the rhinoceros has no enemies in its natural habitat. Even adult lions can hardly cope with a multi-ton "machine" capable of speeding up to 45 km/h. But at the same time, the rhinoceros - the threat of savannahs - is very afraid of people and tries to stay away from them. Add to this the fact that rhinos are especially active at night, but they do not have good eyesight. The glitter of the fire, which is clearly visible in the darkness, attracts the curious animal, which rushes to it. But as soon as the rhinoceros reaches the fire and realizes that there are people around, the animal begins to panic. The rhinoceros begins to rush around, trampling everything under its feet, including the fire. People, who are also in a panic, may think that the animal is trying to trample the fire on purpose, although the rhinoceros does not think about it. Thus, perhaps, this misconception was born.
The legend of the fire-stomping rhinoceros was also blamed on the cinema. It is about the movie "Gods must have gone mad", where there is a scene of an animal trampling on a fire. Western audience liked the film, which took a lot of interesting moments from it. One of them was the scene with the rhinoceros
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