Clara the rhinoceros (around 1738–1758) was a European celebrity. Captain Douwe Janz. Mout van der Meer (1705–after 1758), a native of Leiden, purchased Clara from Jan Albert Sichterman, the director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Bengal. Clara’s mother had been killed by hunters, and from just a few months of age she was raised in Sichterman’s own home. In July 1741, Mout van der Meer arrived with her in Rotterdam. At first, he loaned Clara to scientists for research purposes, before in 1746 taking her on tour by land and sea across all Europe – travelling through Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France – before showing her at fairs, where people would pay an entrance fee to see her and other attractions. Clara delighted the crowds at least once in Frankfurt, having made an appearance at the 1747 autumn fair. Clara died in London in April 1758.