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The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest of the five extant rhinoceroses. Members of the species once inhabited rainforests, swamps, and cloud forests in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. They are now critically endangered, with only six substantial populations in the wild: four on Sumatra, one on Borneo, and one in the Malay Peninsula. Their numbers are difficult to determine because they are solitary animals that are widely scattered across their range, but they are estimated to number fewer than 275, and possibly as low as 200. The decline in numbers is attributed primarily to poaching for their horns, which are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. The Sumatran rhino is a mostly solitary animal except for courtship and offspring-rearing. Like the African species, it has two horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in), while the other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown hair covers most of its body. It is the most vocal rhino species and also communicates through marking soil with its feet, twisting saplings into patterns, and leaving excrement. (Full article...)

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April 15: Father Damien Day in Hawaii; Yom Hazikaron in Israel (2013); Patriots' Day in Maine and Massachusetts (2013); Birthday of the Great Leader in North Korea

The first of the James Bond novels and short stories was published in April 1953. The central character, James Bond, is a British Secret Service agent; he was created by journalist and author Ian Fleming and first appeared in the novel Casino Royale. The books are set in a contemporary period, between May 1951 and February 1964. Fleming went on to write a total of twelve novels and two collections of short stories. Since Fleming's death in 1964, a number of other authors have written continuation works. The first of these was Kingsley Amis, writing under the pseudonym of "Robert Markham", who produced one novel. John Pearson then wrote a fictional biography of Bond in 1973 before Christopher Wood wrote two novelizations later that decade. John Gardner wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations between 1981 and 1996. After he retired, Raymond Benson wrote six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories between 1996 and 2002. After a hiatus of six years, Sebastian Faulks wrote a further novel, which was released on the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth. This was followed in 2011 by a novel by Jeffery Deaver. (Full list...)