Though Europeans had heard rumors for years about a giant horned creature living in Africa, Clara the rhino was the first animal of her kind to be exhibited widely in Europe. Orphaned as a baby, Clara was given as a pet to the head of the Dutch East India Company. Later, she was transported to Europe by an enterprising Dutch sea captain in 1741, where she caused a sensation. According to the episode of David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities about Clara, she was a royal favorite, commanding audiences among rulers as well as fascinated public crowds, and even started a fashion rage in Paris, with wigs styles "a la rhinoceros" and poems dedicated to her. However, contrary to popular belief, Clara didn't actually inspire the famous woodcut of a rhinoceros by Albrecht Durer: that was done in 1515, and was based on a rhino that tragically died while being transported by ship from Lisbon.