Snowstalker

The **snowstalker** (*Phobogulo gladius*), also known as the **sabertooth** and the **saber-toothed wolverine**, is a species of gulonine mustelid, most closely related to the common wolverine, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the tundra, alpine, and cold boreal plains and open woodlands across Eurasia to help boost biodiversity. As far as its basic physiology goes, the snowstalker is larger and heavier than the wolverine, measuring around 4 feet (1.2 meters) in length and almost 2 feet (60 inches) in height, and weighing up to 34 kilograms (75 lbs), but it is still smaller than many of the prey items such as caribou, muskoxen, shagrats, pinnipeds and gannetwhales, and its canines are developed into a pair of 6 inch (15 centimeter) long sabre teeth. It has powerful jaws, with a bite force of 2,000 pounds psi or 907 kilograms. They are somewhat sexually dimorphic: males are larger than females. The snowstalker's fur is white, providing it with camouflage in blizzards and winter storms, and is thick and warm, insulating it from the cold. The soles of their feet are also covered in hair, to insulate them from the cold of the ground, and to help their grip on slippery ice. Snowstalker vocalisations are primarily roars and growls, not too dissimilar to big cats such as tigers or leopards. The snowstalker's main prey items are deer, shagrats, and musk ox calves. When in groups, these herbivores are well-defended against predators by their numbers, and will bunch up together, but snowstalkers often pick off lost, injured, young, or elderly individuals. In coastal regions, they may try to attack pinnipeds and gannetwhales or gannetwhale eggs, but are often repelled by the pinniped's sharp teeth and by the gannetwhale's long beaks or their special defense. When threatened, gannetwhales will regurgitate partially-digested fish and squid, which is particularly noxious to the sensitive nose of a predator like the snowstalkers. When they are not breeding or looking after cubs, snowstalkers are solitary and territorial, but because of the thin populations of prey, the territory of a single snowstalker may cover several square miles. They ferociously defend their kills from any other snowstalkers of the same gender that approach. Female snowstalkers do not hold territory of their own, but wander through the territories of males. They will sometimes allow a dominant male to do hunting for them, conserving their own energy, as males will allow females to eat from their kills in return for mating rights. They make their dens in shallow caves, which is usually the only shelter available on the tundra. Because of the massive distances between territories, snowstalkers mate only infrequently. To prevent inbreeding and genetic weakness, the female snowstalker enters estrus every 21 days, and once she mates, her fertilised eggs are held in suspension inside her. Eventually, after multiple matings, the embryos are implanted into her womb, and as the winter ends and the summer thaw begins, she will give birth to a litter of cubs born of many different fathers. Female snowstalkers take care of their cubs, travelling massive distances to find food for them, and, to teach them to hunt, mothers will chase prey animals back to their den for them to "train" on. If they struggle too much, the mother will demonstrate by injuring or outright killing the prey. Mothers also regurgitate food for very young cubs. Because big animals are rare on the tundra, snowstalkers will follow their prey for days, and have evolved a cautious hunting strategy. Using its white coat to blend in with the snow, especially during a blizzard, the snowstalker will ambush and injure, but not kill, its chosen prey item. Instead of risking injury by trying to finish the prey off, the snowstalker will simply trail its wounded victim until it bleeds to death. During the summer, when boggy greenery is flourishing, its white coat puts it at a disadvantage, though it may try to camouflage against rocky terrain or patches of snow. Snowstalkers always hunt alone. The conservation status of the snowstalker is **Near Threatened** due to climate change and some poaching, however, thanks to conservation efforts, the snowstalker is a protected species.