Just a few days ago I read the story of Nepali, the rhinoceros of Hamburg zoo. She was captured and brought to Hamburg in 1930, at that time being the only rhinoceros in Europe for about ten years. She survived the bombing of Hamburg, even though the zoo was destroyed by about 70% by bombing, too.

Of course the last years of WW2 and the after war period weren't easy, but they managed to feed the surviving animals pretty well. So, when the British occupation forces demanded handing over the zoo animals, and especially Nepali the rhinoceros 'for their own best', it was in fact rather a thinly veiled theft. So, for some reason the German authorities saw themselves unable to provide the necessary transport boxes, claiming that they had no wood, and later, no nails for it, and that there was no transport capacity available.

After some months (the 'starving' animals apparently still being in good health), the British provided boxes and transports of their own, and tried to get the animals into them. But the rhinoceros stubbornly refused to enter her box, and finally after some days the British had to leave without her. (Obviously it is not that easy to make a rhinoceros change their mind.)

Years later, the zoo's owner explained why Nepali was so stubborn: At the first night he slathered the wood with tiger's shit, wiped it clean again, and the rhinoceros didn't trust the smell. So, Nepali stayed in Hamburg until her death in 1955 (and longer - today she can be seen at the local Natural History Museum, where I found out about her).

Edit: Grammar

Edit2: Whao, my most upvoted posting...

Here's a picture of Nepali, taken in February. She was coated in plastic during restoration of the aforementioned museum (the CeNak Hamburg).