Cu - pa The cu - pa was a bipedal , theropod - like species of reptomammal native to the Outer Rim worlds of Nam Chorios and Tatooine . They were distant cousins of the tauntaun , another species of omnivorous reptomammals indigenous to the icy planet of Hoth . However , unlike the tauntaun , the cu - pa had a more brightly colored hide , and were not nearly as intelligent . However , they were very passive , and could be trained by beast master s to act as mounts . The cu - pa was mostly comparable in size to the tauntaun , but a subspecies known as the wasteland cu - pa could grow to much larger sizes . Bioengineers were also known to use the DNA of the cu - pa to incubate mutated variants known as co - henpa . Biology and appearance . The species of bipedal , theropod - like reptomammal s named cu - pa were native to the Outer Rim worlds of Nam Chorios and Tatooine . The vertebrate species had brightly colored bristly red hides in the wild , but when domesticated , their hides could come in a variety of different hues , including shades of yellow , green and blue . The cu - pa were distant cousins of the tauntaun , another species of omnivorous reptomammals indigenous to the icy planet of Hoth . However , the cu - pa was not nearly intelligent as their tauntaun counterparts . Regardless , the cu - pa ' s passivity allowed for beast master s to train cu - pa ' s as domesticated mounts . Subspecies of the cu - pa included the considerably larger wasteland cu - pa , also native to Tatooine . History . During the time following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY , miniature replicas of the cu - pa were available as house decorations . Bioengineers were also successful in using the DNA of the cu - pa to incubate mutated variants known as co - henpa . These mutated co - henpa exhibited a more scrawny , reptilian - like appearance . In 1 ABY , a female Twi ' lek performer rode a pink and blue furred cu - pa during the grand opening of the Aerie Casino on Naboo . The Human xenobiologist Dusque Mistflier looked on in fascination as the pale - blueskinned Twi ' lek tightly wrapped her lekku around the cu - pa ' s neck . Mistflier wondered if this allowed the performer to direct the animal ' s movement . Reserving her conclusions for a later date , the xenobiologist recorded her observations until she had more information . Behind the scenes . The cu - pa first appeared in Barbara Hambly ' s " Planet of Twilight " , released in May of 1997 , and later as a creature in the 2003 video game " Star Wars Galaxies : An Empire Divided " , a massively multiplayer online role - playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts , prior to its closure on December 15 , 2011 . In addition to the wasteland cu - pa , there also existed other named types of cu - pa in " Galaxies " , including the red cu - pa and wonderous cu - pa . However , both of these types of cu - pa were virtually identical in size and appearance to a typical cu - pa , so it is not clear if they constituted a distinct type of subspecies , or if they were merely descriptive names for different types of the same creature . While the cu - pa was first shown on Nam Chorios in both " Planet of Twilight " and " The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons " , and were stated to be native to Nam Chorios in " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , " " stated that the cu - pa was native to the planet Tatooine .