General Information:
Hazeks are a dog-like animal that was originally from the planet Dreon 5, a hot unoccupied planet full of jungles, deserts, and Savannahs full of diverse wildlife. They are kept as a pet by a ton of intelligent alien species, and have since can be found on more than one planet due to this alone; this unfortunately has disastrous results as hazeks are a very invasive species.
Appearence:
Wild hazeks are usually a sandy brown color with dark brown or black markings, with white on their belly, and on the tip of their tail. The other colors they come in are black, blonde, grey, dark brown, and white which are the other colors they come in. In some regions though like the snowier regions black, grey, and white with longer fur is the most common color; while in hotter regions lighter brown colors with shorter fur are more common than darker colors however. Hazek markings are similar to a foxes most of the time, but however their markings change dependent on region with stripes/spots being more common in jungle areas; while in desert areas their regular fox markings are more common. A healthy hazek will have shiny fur, and no missing or mangy fur which is a signal that the animal is either very sick or got into a fight. Hazeks have claws on their feet to use as traction, to hold down prey, and to scratch; the enlarged thumb is used to slash at prey during hunting. The hazeks body plan allows for it to have good stamina, and act as a pursuit predator not unlike a wolf which is similar looking creature from Agalorix which allows for the animal to run down prey till it's exhausted before killing it. Their fangs are used for bloodletting their prey, and when they eat they use their back teeth for chewing instead of their front teeth which is unsuitable for that sort of use. Hazeks have more than one horn type, which the type is dependent on how much testosterone is in their bodies, Hazeks with high testosterone with no estrogen have horns with more than one point on them, hazeks with hormones being equal in amount either have pronghorn-like horns or goat horns, hazeks with only estrogen in their bodies have no horns at all. Hazeks have a good sense of smell, hearing, and sight. They are able to smell things from miles away, hear things from far away, and can see at night as they have night vision.
Sub species:
The Zik:
The zik is a domesticated variety of hazek which has been domesticated for several hundred years by the incari aliens, due to them being selective breeding/genetically engineered they come in tons of breeds, markings, colors, or traits not found in their wild cousins. Color mutations like albino, pie bald, and melanism is more common in ziks then in their wild cousins due to the colors being sought after by breeders who think these color mutations are valuable. Other mutations such as brachycephaly, long hair, one horn, or curved tails are also common due to the selective breeding/genetic engineering. Ziks were domesticated as companion pets, security alarms, and are sometimes used in the military as attack animals during battles. Ziks don't have a pack dynamic that hazeks have, and don't have the many horn types like their wild cousins; instead they only have one horn type making them hermaphroditic entirely with both hormones working in their bodies. Ziks are still genetically capable of breeding with their wild cousins creating hybrids with different markings, horns, colors , or sizes than their pure blooded wild counterparts. The offspring that are born are fertile, and are capable of giving birth on their own as both species are genetically similar enough to create fertile hybrid offspring. Ziks are just as invasive as their wild counterparts, with a lot of places in a ton of planets making it mandatory to neuter them, or making it outright illegal to even own them due to their invasive nature. it is however illegal to kill a zik in a ton places as it's considered animal creulty, it is also illegal to sell zik fur or body parts in a ton of places, and it's also even completely illegal to eat them in a lot of places as it is considered animal cruelty to eat them.
Behavior:
Hazek pack structure is centered around an adult goat horned female, and large horned male with their offspring. The more dominant subordinates have pronghorn antlers, and they will likely either take place of the large horned male that died or take over completely. When this happens prong-horned males will grow bigger antlers, and will either become the lead females mate or simply lead alongside their mother which happens if the lead female is related to the male. When the female is related to the lead male they don't breed, and the lead female will still seek out a mate of her own still in someway. When she's found a new mate, the new mate has to beat the females own son first to get to her. When he's beaten his body will drop in the testosterone hormone which sheds his antlers entirely becoming hornless for a short period of time, or he'll leave becoming a dispersal hazek instead. During desperate hard times for the species the pack structure will disappear, and the hazeks will become loners for a time till it tides over not unlike coyotes on agalorix.
Dispersal hazeks aka lone hazeks have a hard time surviving, and usually have a high mortality rate due to being alone with no pack to support them. Dispersal hazeks always have pronghorns, and are sometimes known to breed with no horned pack females or other proghorned males; this union doesn't result in a pair bond however as they leave after mating. If the prong-horned male is pregnant their offspring are likely to not survive due to being alone, and also have a very high mortality rate unless they find a mate shortly after; which if that happens the offspring have more of a chance of surviving then. Dispersal hazeks sometimes end up in more populated areas with people, and can sometimes start preying on pets or livestock as they're easier prey to survive.
Wild hazeks are a popular animal in zoos, and adored by animal fans alike both alien fans as well as human fans just really love seeing them. Their domestication has led to them being found on several planets outside their home planet Dreon 5, with the exception of Sparth where they're considered illegal to transport or keep on the planet entirely as they're considered an invasive species where they're kept far from the planet. On agalorix, fenris III, and forria they've been introduced to the wild due to either domestication or escaping from zoos/menageries, and have since made many animals extinct due to being a very invasive creature. Like for example on agalorix they pretty much wiped out most canine species like wolves on the planet, and have pretty much replaced them with themselves. Because of this there are eradication programs put in place for this species, but they have since become unsuccessful due how this species reproduces; another reason for them being hard to exterminate is also due to moral reasons as it's seen as unethical to kill them by many animal rights groups or animal lovers in general.
A hazeks worst enemy is either themselves, their domesticated cousins, humans, intelligent aliens, and can sometime get into conflicts with other predators like canines or the vaakay. Hazeks are incredibly territorial, and will attack a unfamiliar hazek or unfamiliar animals in their territory like a wolf or a dog. They will also hound other creatures for their food, and steal it from them like they do wolves; they will also even attack the young of other predators if they see them killing them in process. Hazeks are also known for killing pets in more populated areas, and are considered a huge nuisance due to this. Ziks also may make good pets, but hazeks don't making it either illegal to own them or require a license to keep; as they're still very wild. They're not known for killing humans or intelligent aliens however, but they're very capable of killing an adult human/alien or human/alien child; thus they're considered a threat if they're found outside the enclosure. Wild hazeks are very expensive to keep as pets so only the rich keep them, and they usually keep them in the back of their house in a fenced area or even more dangerously inside their own houses.
Hazeks speak by their body language mostly using ear positions, and their tails. Like a happy hazek will have a wagging tail, and a stiff tail that is out with growling will mean they're aggressive. Young hazeks will play with each other to get them ready for aggressive conflicts in the future, or to practice hunting prey; even adults will play with each other from time to time to strengthen bonds with each other or to simply socialize. Hazeks have a territorial howl that carries from far away to let other rival hazeks know that they're in the area or that is their home; hazeks even have a rally call that sounds very similar to an elks bugle that carries far off also. The rally call is meant to bring other hazeks in the group to come to where the caller is, and to call attention to a certain thing that the caller is alerting the others too. A hazeks hair on their neck will stand on end when they're angry, or scared signaling a non happy animal as well.
Diet:
Hazeks usually hunt small to medium size animals, and bring down large animals as a pack to ensure the success of the hunt. They usually go after injured, weak, or old prey as they're the easiest to capture than healthy individuals. They usually kill large prey by pretty much biting it in the throat with their large teeth making it bleed to death, and capture prey by jumping on it's back while holding onto their skin with their large thumb claws. Hazeks that live in cities, or towns will eat the trash that intelligent species put out; this however makes them more likely to get poisoned or get sick however. When food is scarce they'll turn to carrion, fruit, berries, or plant food to survive. Hazeks can live without food for a long time which is up to 6 months, and can live without water at 3 months making these creatures able to fast for a long period of time. Hazeks have also been known to eat livestock as they're easier prey than their normal prey, and because of this many a wild hazek has met their deaths due to angry farmers annoyed by them killing their livestock. Hazeks will also cannibalize each other if times are hard or desperate, and no other food is available to them.
Reproduction:
Hazeks have a strange way of reproducing as technically they are hermaphrodites, but which or what organ works depends on how much testosterone or estrogen is in their bodies; this creates more than one horn type. These more than horn types are hormonely different, and reproduce in different ways to each other due to the amount or lack of there of hormone that is in their bodies at any given time. Hazeks with large horns with many points are considered 100% male with no ability to carry offspring, but can impregnate other hazeks. Hazeks with pronghorns, and goat horns have both hormones in their bodies at a 50-50 rate; due to they this can both give birth as well as sire offspring. Goat horned hazeks are considered 50% female, and are usually the ones that give birth to the offspring of their group acting as a mother to the group; goat horned females are more aggressive than their no horned counterparts. Hazeks with pronghorn antlers are considered 50% male, and usually don't give birth or even sire offspring; they however are capable of doing so if given the opportunity. The drawback of the goat horned females, and pronghorn males is that they're less fertile than the other horned individuals having fewer offspring than the large horn or no horned variety. Hazeks go into heat in the winter, and have their offspring in the spring where resources are abundant for their offspring to live on. The main group mother or female gives birth to 1-6 offspring at a time in a den, and the whole pack takes care of these cubs to ensure their survival. Hazeks are considered grown adults at 2 years old, and either stay in the group or leave to make their own group as a dispersal hazek. Dispersal hazeks sometimes breed with the no horned hazek females which give birth to 1-9 offspring, unfortunately these offspring have less chance of a survival as they aren't taken care of by the group; sometimes they are outright killed by the groups mother to get rid of competition for her own offspring.
Random species facts:
Hazeks/ziks sometimes have a mutation that causes them have double fangs, or their thumbs on their back legs giving them 4 thumbs instead of two.
Hazeks due to their horn types, and the fact that those horn types act differently, with different hormones, and with different pack roles; they're considered a species with 4 or three genders.
Hazeks live to about 8 to 9 years at most in the wild, and 15 to 18 years in captivity. Ziks lifespan depend on the breed as large breeds only live to be 8 or 10 years in captivity, and smaller breeds live to be 15 in captivity; maybe even older than that depending on how well they're taken care of.
Hazeks/ziks despite having night vision have monochromatic color vision, which means they cannot see color at all with the exception of blacks, whites, and greys.
Hazeks will sometimes adopt abandoned cubs, but it's a rare occurrence as they mostly either kill the cub or ignore it entirely.
There have been stories of wild hazeks, or ziks adopting abandoned alien or human children in the wild.
Hazeks are sometimes called alien coyotes by humans due to their color as well as their overall looks being similar to a Agalorite coyote.
Other notes:
Hazek is pronounced as ' hay-zik ' or ' hay-zek ', and zik is pronounced either simply as ' zik ' or ' zek '.
The name hazek was come up with when I was playing the game spore, and the name randomly generated when I was making creatures which is where the name originated from; the name zik however is simply the word ' zek ' in hazek changed to an I instead of an E.
The hazek is the oldest species I have besides the Incari, I've have had this species since I was in middle school where it's changed very little since then staying pretty much the same through-out the years I had it. Ziks however aren't as old, they're in fact a very recent creation unlike the hazek.
The behavior, and ecology of the hazek is based on a wolf; while a zik's is based on a domestic dog.
The 4 gender idea I got for the hazeks were based on a bird species called a ruff as well as a bird called a white throated sparrow which are actual animals with 4 genders; the only difference is that hazeks have 1 sex not 2 like regular animals as hazeks are all technically considered hermaphrodites. Ziks however are different only having two genders instead of 4 like their wild cousins, but still have only 1 sex like their wild counterparts.
I don't remember where I got the inspiration for hazeks however, but I kinda based it off the looks of both canines as well as how deer look.
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