Warg
- Scientific name:Canis Villosus Magnus "Great Shaggy Dog/Wolf"
- Creatures in Relation: Possible Mutation of Eurasian Wolf (Canis lupus lupus)
- Animal Ranking: Fauna/Megafauna
Canis Villosus Magnus or the Great Slavic/Eurasian Warg, is a large and formidable predator that is widespread throughout much of Northern Europe.
Range
As the name suggests, Eurasian Wargs hold territory within the European Range. However, they are indeed rare beasts. Their rarity varies between places, with Warg often being held to be near-mythical in most of the South/ Southwestern part of Europe. Inhabitants of the North/Northeastern range however acknowledge that they
are indeed a real animal, but despite this, are very rarely encountered. This is because Wargs often share their territory with other, large canine like beast's such as The
European Werewolf Canis Magnus Gracilipes (
Large Elegant Wolf), and the slightly more well known but less impressive
European/Eurasian Wolf (
Canis lupus lupus). This diversion of beasts has often confused many because of the close connection each creature have to one another, with The European Werewolf AND the Eurasian Warg both being descendants of the Eurasian Wolf.
Why these creatures changed so much between mutations, or why there are still normal unmutated Eurasian Wolfs is still unknown. But it often thought to be due to population abundance and general range throughout Europe. Once abundant over much of North America and Eurasia, the grey wolf inhabited a smaller portion of its former range prior too the Great War because of widespread human encroachment and destruction of habitat, with the resulting human-wolf encounters sparking broad extirpation. By 2018, the global grey wolf population was estimated to be at
200,000–250,000 wolves.
At the time prior to the
Great War/Sino–American War, wolf population had grown stable.
- Ukraine for example had an unprotected, yet stable population of 2,000 wolves, with many of the wolves living in the Zone of alienation north of Chernobyl, where they faced few natural threats thanks to the lack of humans.
while other numbers in various places often counted as such:
- Belarus Population: 1,500–2,000 individuals.
- France Population: 580 individuals
- Russian Population: 25,000–30,000 individuals
Following the Great War and all the battles that came after, many of these animals got displaced, with many either perishing or evacuating their homeland. As populations grew over time and the animals generally began to take over what was once their native range, it is believe that the wide-range was part of the reason for the changes in mutation. While it is generally unknown completely as to why, studies on local populations showed that
- Eurasian Wolves who stayed close to the Western half of Europe, and made their home in places like France, mutated quickly into Canis Magnus Gracilipes
- Eurasian Wolves who migrated to the Eastern and North Eastern half of Europe, and made their home in places like Russia, mutated into Canis Villosus Magnus
- Eurasian Wolves who generally stayed in the middle, stayed in their original forms and created a steady unmutated population of Eurasian Wolves.
Being found in the Eastern and North Eastern half of Europe, the Warg had evolved slightly for the dangerous environment of the colder regions of Europe, therefore making it a very large species, roughly 2 meters tall at the shoulders and very muscular. They can be found in a range of habitats from temperate forests, temperate swamps, boreal forests, cold bogs, and tundra, where thanks to their thick coat of shaggy fur, can live comfortably where locations in Russia, about midway between the Sea of Okhotsk and the East Siberian Sea, can see its temperature bottom out at minus
-78 degrees Fahrenheit (
minus-61.1 Celsius) due largely to the remnants of
Nuclear Winter that still presides in most of the country leaving it very cold and practically barren in certain places even long after the war, with nuclear climate change drastically altering much of the worlds seasons and weather patterns.
Anatomy
Not much separates Wargs from their
now distant cousins the Eurasian Wolf. Physically, they are not simply larger versions of wolves, but have slightly different proportions than their smaller cousins; their heads are larger with a leaner, more pronounced
squarish muzzle, short and stocky claws, and more pronounced hook-like canine teeth for ice fishing during the winter. Height generally reaches about 130cm - 190cm, and is measured at the withers, Ideal weight is 800-900 pounds, and largely depends on height, larger the animal, larger the weight.
making Warg much bulkier than their standard cousins.
Warg, much like werewolf, can have a variety of coat types, but typically they sport a dense undercoat and an outer layer of guard hairs. This is perfect protection against the varied climates to which they have adapted too. Much like werewolves, their coats can come in various shades and patterns but Melanists and erythrists are rare compared to other's of it's lineage, thought to be brought on by lack of proper camouflaged in the snowy regions making pups more likely to be picked off despite protection from their parents.
They are also noted to have extremely strong strong back vertebra and firm muscles comparable to that of a horse.
Along with strong, well-muscled backs, they have deep chests with large hearts and substantial lung capacity. Built for endurance, these heavy creatures can move surprisingly quickly and can easily cover long distances. As a added bonus to their life as endurance runners, Warg also present an almost unique adaptation which allows them to switch to burning fat in order to replenish their muscle energy stores when running over long distances.
Behavior
Warg often communicate most commonly in chuffs, growls, purrs, and long distance vocalizations consisting of deep, resonant howls, which fluctuate in pitch in a manner far more melodic than wolves werewolves or coyotes. Warg were also long considered the true “solitary'' canine of all of Europe's canine's, however this claim has been called into question in recent years. While Warg do not form packs and live independent lives, deep familial bonds have been observed. New research has also shown friendly behavior between unrelated individuals, typically around popular fishing spots.
Interestingly enough, European Warg, Werewolf and Eurasian wolf are mutually intelligible.
Mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort, such as languages like
Spanish and
Italian, who share similar vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Despite the change in dialect, Eurasian Wolves can readily communicate with North American Grey Wolves, and have been recorded to respond to European-style howls. European-Werewolves are thought to be able to do the same thing with
North American Werewolves.
The howl of the Eurasian Warg, similar to the Eurasian Wolf, is much more protracted and melodious than that of other wolf species, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable, leading many to believe that they too may be able to communicate with their North American cousin's, though testing's have not been conducted.
Even more interesting is that despite being "solitary", Wargs have been known to communicate and "talk" to other species of canine, such as werewolf and Eurasian wolf. Werewolf packs are nomadic when they need to be, unlike predators who tend to stay in their lands even when food is scarce an only move when they absolutely need too, werewolves will readily go on the move in search of food, unless they have pups. The only time they ever truly bunker down in one area is if there is a ready supply of food. These are normally areas like “animal highways” were no matter the season the animals will chose this path to take. And the pickings only get even better when migration turns around. Werewolves' who migrate East from France, however often do run into other canines such as wolves and occasionally Warg.
Similar to their North American cousins, on a few documented occasions, European werewolves have been spotted coexisting near or with a wild wolf pack. Little is known about the circumstances leading up to such co-habitations between the otherwise rival species but it is postulated that in times of sparse prey, lone werewolves will follow a pack of wolves and help them bring down larger game. The wolves, recognizing the werewolf as non-hostile advantage will allow the werewolf to partake in hunts and even allow them to feed alongside the pack in successful kills. Not all such symbiotic relationships end peacefully however and many wolves remain leery around werewolf, sometimes leading to fights. In addition to co-hunting with Common Wolves, it has often been rumored though rarely documented that they will actively adopt orphan pups who have either been abandoned or who’s parents have been killed.
However, European Werewolves also seem to extend the curtesy to Warg as well. Wargs, unlike their other relatives, are more solitary and territorial, only truly pairing up during mating seasons. The mother Warg cares for the pups until they can fend for themselves, and in some cases, they can form family packs. However, in cases were Werewolves enter Warg territory, Warg remarkably do not seem to mind the intrusion, often allowing Werewolves to hunt within their territory. During night's, its also often recorded of Werewolves and Warg keeping their distance from one another but also engaging in hour or multiple hour long yip-howling sessions with one another. However they are not believed to be sounds indicating stress, anxiousness or territoriality.
Instead they are often compared too a "greeting song", and though Werewolves and Warg are pitched differently with Warg have a substantially more "bassy" compared to werewolves, communication does not seem to be an issue, with each "conversation" lasting hours at a time before the animals part ways.
Diet
Warg are carnivores through and through.
Formidable hunters capable of tackling large prey, lone Warg have no issue bringing down larger animals- their larger skull allow for more muscle attachment than any other wolf breed, allowing them to latch on to prey and disable them. Capable of using their entire body during fights with opponents, they often take down prey or rivals with brute strength, capable of making any elk buckle and fall.
Being solitary hunters, Warg hunts are often described as almost cat like- similar to a tiger. They generally hunt alone and ambush their prey, overpowering them from any angle, using their body size and strength to knock the prey off balance before grabbing the throat or nape with its teeth. When hunting larger animals, Warg often prefer to bite the throat and use their powerful forelimbs to hold onto the prey, often simultaneously wrestling it to the ground. The Warg then remains latched onto the neck until its target dies of strangulation. By this method, Eurasian Buffaloes and animals weighing over a ton have been killed by individual's weighing about a sixth as much.
With small prey such as hares and Gullo's, bites the nape, often breaking the spinal cord, piercing the windpipe, or severing the jugular vein or common carotid artery are preferred method's for killing. Rarely, Warg have been observed to kill prey by swiping with their paws, which are powerful enough to smash the skulls of domestic cattle and break the backs of young bears.
The most unique feature of Wargs is that their teeth are effectively self-sharpening: unlike other canine's as the animal ages, the cheek teeth rotate against each other to compensate for wear, ensuring that the Warg’s teeth are always sharp (exceptionally so for a predatory mammal). The large canines are used for killing or fishing, while the carnassial are for tearing flesh. Similar to cat's, Wargs also have "spiky tongue's": their tongues are covered in hard, backwards-facing spines, called
filiform papillae. These work like a comb for grooming their fur, and are also used to rasp meat from animal bones.
As prey in certain locations can be hard to come by, Wargs utilize every part of a kill and as a result almost nothing goes to waste. Bones are often chewed to the point of splintering in order to get too the marrow, while the bones themselves are often eaten to preserve much needed minerals and calcium to get them through tough Russian winters.
Use to Humans
Throughout many parts of Russia, the Warg has become a national symbol noted for its endurance, great strength, and cunning. Much like it's cousin before it, the Warg has become a common motif in the foundational mythologies and cosmologies of peoples throughout Eurasia. As Wargs are often seen as fierce creature's who show little fear in the face of danger capable of killing large creature's with brute strength alone, it's no wonder why they have become a sigil of House Klaudius, who's flag adorns a wolf-like or Warg-like head, and has been a symbol of terror throughout much of the landscape. A symbol Klaudius took all to well to heart, as the man had a soft spot for the creature.
However, this apparent love for the creature, at least enough to use it's features as a symbol of strength, was not enough to save the creature from the wrath of the north.
Wanting to appear more fearsome and regain the popularity he had lost among the nobility during the early day's of his reign, Tsar Klaudius orchestrated the first
Warg Hunts early on in his reign. Warg's were noted to be strong adversaries worthy of a fight and extremely hard to put down, and it was rumored that those who did would gain the strength of the creature after it's death. Whether or not that was true or not didn't seem to matter, as killing a Warg also meant prestigious rewards and honorary titles. Only a few Wargs were killed at first, but the nobility within Tsar's circle embraced the sport voraciously, and soon Warg hunting became a popular sport. Unfortunately this drove the already rare-sighted creature to near extinction in Russia, with it claimed to be extinct in the South-Eastern half of Russia and in dwindling numbers to the West.
However this does often not deter people, as Nobility will often pay a hefty sum too anyone who can accurately give them the location of spotted Wargs, leaving this creatures future in Russia very bleak.
