Catoblepas

Write about a dangerous insect or animal in your world.   The continent is largely free of large or dangerous beasts. Farmers have bred their domesticated goats and pigs to be larger than their wild counterparts for meat production, so that some of Chrenada's most valued goats might stand nearly as tall as a woman's hip. The largest animal one is likely to see is a horse, a species standing much taller than a goat. Horses are prized for their speed and their rarity, and their cost (both in acquisition and in maintenance) make them a luxury item for the elite. While a few documents suggest that they were used for draft labor in their native land, this is disputed, as their reproduction rate is far too low to maintain a working population.   In the mountains, however, a few creatures from the days of legend remain. They do not venture out into the plains, living in isolated pockets, and so few travelers will see them, except possibly during the seasonal migrations when they use the northern pass to travel from east to west or west to east.   The catoblepas is one of the largest of these old beasts left from a previous age. It is a great quadruped, whose shoulders may match the height of a man and whose weight may reach as much as two thousand pounds. They are noted for their downward sloping neck and low head, with tusks for rooting or fighting, and specimens are generally a dirty white in color. They browse vegetation, rather than hunting as predators, but their danger to travelers is in their fierce territoriality and reactivity to provocation, especially during the migrations when they are more exposed.    Catoblepas ivory is precious, and some hunters venture into the mountains to hunt the beasts. The trade in catoblepas ivory is small and lucrative, an item for conspicuous consumption in jewelry, hair ornaments, or pieces of art.

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