DOD Bestiary: Drong, Hugag

Common Name: Drong, Hugag
Pronounced: (Drong), (Who-gag)
Classification: Indrik mongoliensis (Mongolian Indrik), Hugag canadensis (Canadian Hugag)
SGOC Rank: Megafauna

Length: 28 feet (drong), 19 feet (hugag)
Height: 20 feet at the shoulder (drong), 11 feet at the shoulder (hugag)
Weight: 20 tons (drong), 7 tons (hugag)
Diet: Herbivore
Social Structure: Solitary
Home Planet: Earth
Distribution: Mongolia, China, Pakistan (drong); Canada, northern United States (hugag)
IUCN Status: Near Threatened (drong), Vulnerable (hugag)

Description:

The drong and the hugag are two modern-day species of indricothere, an ancient group of rhinoceroses that produced some of the largest non-SGO land mammals that have ever lived. Against ravenous proboscideans and sauropods this group has been reduced to a paltry two living genera, both of which contain a single species.

The drong is the largest of the two species, a living echo of the mighty Paraceratherium that lived in Eurasia during the Oligocene epoch. Drongs live in semi-arid regions and feed mainly on tall trees, stripping leaves and branches in bulk like giant armor-plated giraffes. The drongs’ resiliency and carrying capacity make them excellent warmounts and beasts of burden once domesticated. Drongs are solitary unless it’s a mother raising a single calf, which she will chase away once it reaches the age of three.

The hugag is the smaller and more specialized of the two species. As large as an elephant, hugags have much shorter necks than drongs and instead have a long muscular lip to reach for high foliage. They are found all across the northern forests of North America but are most common around the Great Lakes region, where they strip bark with their long incisors and snap off delectable branches with their lips. Wild hugags are preyed upon by dynamosaurs and striders, although they can deliver a kick strong enough to shatter bones. Hugags are too temperamental to be domesticated.