Rhinos can sprint more than 25 miles an hour, so there was no time to leap back in the car. Instinctively, the guard fired a shot into the ground just in front of the rhino. The crack of the rifle and the dirt that the bullet kicked up was enough to distract their attacker and it veered off into the grass seconds before reaching them.
Shaken, but relieved the incident had not been worse, they drove on. As they were entering the forest area, three young rhinos entered the road in front of them .The jeep stopped hurriedly, but this time the animals seemed uninterested and disappeared into the forest. Just then, however, the mother of the three, who had been keeping an eye on her young, came crashing through the trees. No time to shoot this time.
The female rhino slammed into the side of the jeep and started to wrestle it of the road. Indian rhinos don’t use their horns in a fight; instead they bite and this female’s teeth were gouging deep into the side of the jeep.
The guide had laid down a rule for his guests at Kaziranga : no one was allowed to be scared. But his guests were breaking the rule, praying the driver could get them out of there. With the engine screaming, at last the vehicle skidded free. Even then the rhino came after them and it was only 500 feet later that she gave up the chase.