Kir’eshal

Basic Information

Anatomy

They are digitigrade and thus walk on their toes. Their paws have fully retractable claws and webbed toes to make walking in the desert easier. 
Their bodies are covered in sandy fur. The fur on their heads is longer than their body fur. They have striped tails that are longer than their bodies.

Genetics and Reproduction

Females are in heat for one to six days. Gestation that can last from 52 to 53 days. Their litters range in size from four to five with an 80 percent success rate in becoming pregnant. The largest recorded litters have had eight cubs.

Growth Rate & Stages

Newborn cubs are blind, deaf, dark brown in colour and weigh about 120g. After fourteen days, their eyes open. Their pupils are slate-blue. Guard hairs appear, giving cubs a fuzzy appearance. They have small, floppy ears and weigh about 350g. After four weeks, the cub’s pupils are grey flecked with brown. The muzzle starts to lengthen.  The coat is still woolly, but the ears are now erect. After eight weeks, the pupils develop their mature colour and the cub’s face approaches adult proportions. Its fur is largely adult colour but still looks woolly Throughout the summer, cubs are very similar to adults but have thinner coats and a lankier appearance. They become indistinguishable from the adults by late fall. At this point the family group breaks up and some or all of the cubs disperse.

Dietary Needs and Habits

They are classed as omnivores. Their diet is largely made up of invertebrates such as insects and small vertebrates such as reptiles and birds. They've been known to eat eggs. They eat roughly 1 kg (2.2 lb) of food every day. They cache excess food in their burrows, saving it for later.
Cubs suckle for their first four weeks, then are progressively weaned until they are seven weeks old. Some may suckle for longer.  They learn to hunt by catching insects. Once their teeth develop properly the adults will bring back larger food for them.

Additional Information

Social Structure

There is a strict dominance hierarchy within social groups. Dominant cubs receive more social grooming from adults, are more strongly integrated into the social group and less likely to disperse in the fall. They have access to larger portions of food and tend to look larger than their litter mates.
A social group consists of three or four adults though where food is plentiful these groups can be as large as seven adults.  These consist of equal numbers of males and females. In smaller groups only one vixen breeds, but in the larger groups up to three do. Cubs are pooled together in one large litter in such cases. All adults take responsibility for caring for the cubs.

Facial characteristics

They have three common eye colours: red, orange, and gold.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They're primarily found in the northern desert.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They rely on their senses of smell in order to hunt their prey.

Lifespan

In the wild they live for 10 years. A domesticated one can live up to 40.

Average Weight

Males weigh on average between 4.1 and 8.7 kg (9.0 and 19.2 lb). The females weigh slightly less.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Their fur is sandy brown in colour. The darker markings on their bodies vary by individual.