Kaadu/Legends

Kaadu were large, flightless reptavians that inhabited the swamps of the planets Naboo and Obredaan as well as the moon of Rori. Gungans frequently used them as mounts.
==Characteristics==
The kaadu was a two-legged reptavian at home both on land and in the water: they were excellent runners and strong swimmers, as their lung capacity allowed them to remain underwater for up to two hours.The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide Kaadu came in shades of yellow and bright oranges. The area around their eyes was a periwinkle color.
Kaadu had sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell. They lacked upper incisors, and as such were unable to chew their food. Their diet consisted primarily of snails, tlickweed, and standard aquatic plants. Their blunt, hoof-like claws provided surefootedness. The stub tail counterbalanced the head.
They could be found in huge, sexually segregated flocks (20–100 individuals on average), with the total record documented as 3.4 million individuals. Male flocks and female flocks came together during mating, at which time the males became more colorful with yellows and purples. They often had close familial ties. Kaadu females laid their eggs on land, often in fields, but also on riverbanks, where they made elevated mud nests that they lined with vegetable matter. Because predators such as the peko-peko ate unattended kaadu eggs, the average clutch of eggs was usually 10 to 12 at a time. Six to eight in a clutch would usually make it to hatching. The young were fully precocial at hatching.
Predators of the adults included narglatches and zalaacas.
Kaadu meat was comestible. The cookbook Essential Cooking Skills detailed how to best cook that meat.
==History==
The Gungans long ago domesticated the kaadu. Kaadu were known to be fearless, and many were domesticated by Gungan warriors as steeds during times of conflict, or as patrol animals to police the Gungan cities. Kaadu were highly loyal to their owners; it was said that a Gungan and his kaadu made an inseparable team. Warriors often decorated their steeds with huge titavian feathers. Officers of the Gungan Grand Army rode into battle against the Trade Federation upon their kaadu mounts.
They were also encountered by the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi during their task of finding missing Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Eeth Koth in the swamps of Obredaan.Star Wars: Obi-Wan
==Behind the scenes==
The kaadu was originally developed as a beast of burden on Tatooine for The Phantom Menace. The creature was later given more aquatic characteristics and transferred to Naboo. The kaadu seen in Episode I are computer-generated models. They run with a hopping trot that moves them briskly across the battlefield.
Episode I Adventures 15: The Final Battle erroneously describes the kaadu as a four-legged creature.
The sound for the kaadu was created from the slowed-down sound of pigs and the sound of the blowhole of a whale.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing
*LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
*LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Creatures of Naboo
Category:Domesticated creatures
Category:Flightless creatures
Category:Food creatures
Category:Non-sentient species
Category:Omnivorous creatures
Category:Oviparous species
Category:Reptavians
Category:Species used by the Gungan military
Category:Swamp creatures