Sand-lion

### Overview

A sand-lion is a predatory feline that is characterized by unique manes and long, curved dagger-shaped canine teeth. In ancient times, the sand-lion's range was in all five of the eastern deserts, even ranging across into southern Myrr. Increasingly killed for sport, the sand-lion is now considered a threatened species, found almost exclusively within the wilds of Terraland. They remain popular attractions at zoological gardens throughout the world however.

### Behavior In the Wild

Sand-lions are the most socially inclined of all wild felids. Male sand-lions often lived in groups of related sand-lionesses, their mates, and offspring. Such a group is called a *pride*. The average pride consists of around fifteen sand-lions; including several adult females, up to four males. The members of a pride typically spend the day in several scattered groups that may unite to hunt or share a meal. Over the course of time, sand-lions became increasingly more nomadic, with one or two sand-lions ranging widely and moving about sporadically. Lions proclaim their territory by roaring and by scent marking. Their distinctive roar is generally delivered in the evening before a night’s hunting and again before getting up at dawn.

Sand-lions are muscular, deep-chested felids with short, rounded heads, reduced necks and round ears. The size of adult sand-lions varies across their range, averaging around 500 pounds and a body length of up to 9 feet, making them formidable predators. Sand-lion coloration varies from light buff to silvery gray, to yellowish red and dark brown. The underparts are generally lighter.

Males are more robust with broader heads and have a prominent mane which grows downward and backward and may cover most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust, and black hairs. Manes make males look larger and may serve to intimidate rivals or impress prospective mates. The Rhamosi zookeeper Leofdryt documents that "the darker and fuller the mane, the healthier the sand-lion". Selection of mates by sand-lionesses favors males with the densest, darkest mane.

The most distinctive characteristic shared by both females and male sand-lions that distinguish them from other lions is their large maxillary canine teeth, which extend from the mouth even when it was closed. Many of the sand-lions' food sources are large mammals such as elephants, rhinos, gazelle, and other herbivores of the desert. The enlarged canines were a result of large prey, for they aided with strikes reaching major blood vessels. Single sand-lions are capable of bringing down prey like gazelle and wildebeest, which can be twice their own weight, but hunting larger prey like buffalo and rhinos alone is too much of a risk. Cooperative-hunting sand-lions are usually successful. In prides, sand-lionesses do most of the hunting.

Sand-lions only run fast in bursts, and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night. The attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch the victim with a fast rush and final leap. Sand-lions have razor sharp claws adept at tearing flesh. The prey usually is killed by strangulation, or by the sand-lion enclosing the animal's mouth and nostrils in its jaws. A sand-lion may gorge itself and eat up to 60 pounds in one sitting.

### Use as Mounts

Although a group of hunting sand-lions is potentially nature’s most formidable predatory force on land, a high proportion of their hunts fail, often due to the difficulty in closing in for the kill. The sand-lion's sturdy build was exploited by the desert-dwelling Kotu Orks, who were the first to use the creatures as mounts. It is unclear how this relationship between the sand-lions and orks first came about, and details abound about how many a hapless ork who was mangled by a sand-lion. It is believed that the ork raiders who rode these beasts into battle tamed them by providing them with a steady source of food. The orks would kill or incapacitate their targets from a distance using ranged weapons, and their mounts were able to feast on the remains. This initial cooperation between the species led to sand-lions being bred by the orks in captivity, specifically as mounts. These riding lions often had a close connection with the desert orks since they were cubs, and young orks were often paired with a cub before adolescence, so that the pair may form a lifelong bond. Despite their domestication by the orks, the sand-lions prove ferocious in combat, often outfitted with armor by their riders, and capable of tearing apart other mounts or their rider's opponents. Although other races have attempted it, no one has had quite as much success as the orks when it came to rearing and riding these sand-lions. Today they are the primary mount of almost all the desert ork tribes.