Leucrocotta

The leucrocotta is a beast that many people fear and haunts the dreams of many children. For the people of the Karnica Stretch, this is the thing that goes bump in the night, but this is no bogeyman. It’s a very real predator and is one that is not to be taken lightly.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The leucrocotta is a large, unusual, hoofed carnivore, distantly related to the hippopotamus. The overall body structure is similar to that of a hyena, with high shoulders and low haunches. Much of the shoulders' mass comes from large neck muscles needed to support the creature's head and the torso of the animal is sturdy and bulky, supported by comparatively slender, but still muscular legs ending in cloven hooves. It is worth noting that the leucrocotta is more slender and long legged than its relatives, though their hindlimbs are shorter than the front. Aside from a scraggly mane of fur on the neck and a tuft on the tip of the tail, leucrocatta are mostly hairless. A great deal of bulk is concentrated in the front of the animal's torso, mostly to support the huge head and massive jaws. The skull of the animal is almost hippo-like with hyena teeth: the jaws are wide and boxy, with the teeth generally more robust and blunted for crushing.

Genetics and Reproduction

The mating season for leucrocatta is generally in early fall, when the males of the species become even more aggressive than the species is normally. Leucrocatta do experience maternal care, but the father takes no part in parental care. Males are known to battle ferociously for females and the right to mate. While many espouse that they will kill and eat their rivals to prove their virility, the reality is that such brutal killings rarely if ever happen, though for the losing individual to die of their injuries or infection long after the fight is not unheard of. The winning male will stay with the female for but a few days before leaving her and searching for his next mate before the season is over. It is not uncommon for males to attack offspring that have yet to reach maturity, so the female may go into estrus again and allow him to mate. Naturally though, the mother does not let this go easily. Leucrocatta undergo a gestation period of roughly 3-4 months before she gives birth to two to three offspring known as cubs or calves.

Growth Rate & Stages

These young are relatively precocial, able to walk from birth and being weaned within 2 weeks of being born. From this point onward, the cubs dine on anything they can get their hooves around while the mother provides them with pieces of her kills for the bulk of their food, even going so far as to break open the bones so the young can access the marrow. This good will ends a year into their lives, as the mother at this point will soon react to them with violence as she forces them out of her care. However, by this point in their lives they are generally large enough to take care of themselves, often sustaining themselves largely on plant material and small prey until their second year when they move on to larger game.

Ecology and Habitats

Leucrocatta prefer open, wide terrain that benefits their cursorial lifestyle. As the Stretch is warm and dry basically all year round, leucrocatta prefer to rest in patches of woodlands characteristic of some regions of the stretch, while they hunt in open grasslands. Because of their adaptations for endurance, they tend to have wide, expansive territories that span multiple miles, though they are fairly mobile, often following the large animals they hunt. Leucrocatta tend to avoid regions close to the mountains, even the foothills at their bases: this is believed to be due to competition with Gryphons, whom they otherwise would fight with for prey. Additionally, leucrocatta are not able-bodied climbers and tend to be quite clumsy on rocky terrain. Additionally, leucrocatta partition with gryphons through nocturnality, most actively out at night rather than gryphons that tend to prefer daylight, though this is mostly in places where their territories overlap. Outside of gryphon territories, leucrocatta are typically cathemeral, active at varying intervals of the day regardless of the time, though they do seem to prefer to hunker down down the most intense heatwaves.
Leucrotta are top predators in every sense of the word, taking on the largest of game, which on the Stretch means Catoblepas. Because these bulky hooved animals are the dominant herbivores of the region, leucrotta almost invariably going to prey on them compared to other herbivores: in fact, naturalists have noted that leucrocatta seem to favor catoblepones to other forms of prey. This may be in response to pressures imposed by Gryphons but others have put forth the possibility that leucrocatta are specialized to hunt catoblepones over other prey. Either way, they are one of the greatest predators of domestic livestock in the Stretch for this reason, as domestic catoblepas tend to be easier to take down due to their docile nature compared to wild individuals.
While catoblepas are their preferred prey, leucrocatta are by no means picky and will happily hunt large prey of all kinds, from antelope to deer. Wild asses have also been recorded as a common prey item of leucrocatta, which may be why they are known to hunt horses as well. A well-documented animal leucrocatta are known to hunt the mysterious Unicorns endemic to the wooded regions of the Stretch. As these animals prefer wooded regions that gryphons cannot access easily for hunting, leucrocatta are their principle predators. It is partially for this reason leucrocatta have a perception among inhabitants of the Stretch as impure or otherwise unsavory.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Leucrocotta are omnivorous, but most of their diet consists of meat. When dealing with an intact carcass, leucrocotta begin by ripping open the stomach to expose the soft organs, of which the first one eaten is the stomach along with any contents inside. After that, the heart, liver, lungs are consumed at which point the leucrocotta moves on to the muscles. When the bones become exposed, leucrocotta than begin to crunch their powerful jaws on them, giving them access to the extremely nutritious marrow within.
Leucrocatta most typically hunt their prey with a method known as persistence hunting: essentially while they may not be able to beat their prey in a sprint, leucrocotta combine running, walking, and tracking in a sustained pursuit over prolonged time and distance until the prey cannot keep the chase going due to exhaustion and heat stress. This is partially because of their build but also a trait they share with humans: near complete hairlessness, making sweating a more efficient means of thermoregulation while their prey must stop and pant or wallow in mud to cool down. Even horses are known to fall short of leucrotta stamina. Once the prey is too tired to continue, the leucrocatta closes the remaining distance and delivers a bone crushing bite to the head or neck, though they are also known to shoulder charge some prey items such as catoblepones to knock them over and put them in a more compromising position. Leucrocatta are also known to partake in ambush in areas of thick vegetation, usually where it is wooded: this is their preferred hunting tactic for unicorns. While adult catoblepones tend to be eaten on the spot, juvenile catoblepones, antelope, horses, and deer are prey items leucrocatta are known to cache their body parts after dismembering the carcass, usually urinating on the meat to mark it as their cache.
While they are predominantly carnivores, leucrocatta are able to eat a wide variety of food sources, a key to their success in the dry seasons. Grass does not suite their teeth very well, so leucrocatta prefer to browse for nonanimal material: roots, shoots, nuts, fruits, and the occasional branch are all plant sources of food for leucrocatta, the former usually being dug up with their snouts. Leucrocatta are also not above carrion, usually gaining it by bullying smaller predators off of their kills in a manner similar to bears and wolves. Most uncomfortably, it is not unheard of for leucrocatta to dig up graves of the recently deceased to consume the bodies.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Leucrocotta are endemic to the Karnica Stretch. Nowhere else in the world do they exist in the wild.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Leucrocotta have excellent smell, predominantly relying on their nose to find prey. It is said that a leucrocatta can sniff out a person from several miles away and it is clear that their noses are highly integral to their hunting, based on sightings of them tracking their prey by sniffing the air and ground. They also have excellent hearing, though they do not seem to rely on this as much for hunting.

Origin/Ancestry

Entelodont

Lifespan

29-34 years

Average Height

4-5 ft. at the shoulder

Average Weight

340-470 lbs

Average Length

5 ft.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Leucrocatta are a ruddy, saffron color on their backs and a pale on the belly, with intermittent striations of tawny brown occasionally mixed in. The creature's mane is deep ochre color.

Geographic Distribution

• Karnica Stretch

Cultural Perception

Because of many behaviors and habits leucrocatta engage in, many cultures view them as unsightly, to be distained, even straight up evil. Two of the behaviors that contribute most to this perception are their habits of digging up the graves of recently deceased and hunting of Unicorns, who are viewed by many Karnican peoples as a holy animal. While not as big of a factor for being evil, leucrocatta are also viewed as beasts for the fact they hunt catoblepones, which are also viewed by many as a sacred animal. In particular, the Catoblepas is a staple livestock on the Stretch so leucrocatta may hunt domestic stock.