"The single most useful animal you'll find in the desert. Too bad it couldn't be a bit smarter."
Behavior[]
Bhara are rather peaceful giants, feeding off of Gourd roots, and travelling in small groups of three. Their skin is thick and leathery, and almost impossible to break through, leaving them with no natural predators.
These creatures sleep huddled together, and are not known for violence. Every morning, when a group of these creatures wakes up, they lick each other's backs, removing any bugs, parasites, bacteria, or other harmful substances from the back of the creature. When alarmed, these creatures begin pounding their tails into the ground, sending sand in all directions, while bellowing loudly.
Bhara have powerful claws and legs for digging, and when they smell a gourd tree nearby, they immediately stop whatever they're doing to dig up it's roots. However, like Crocodiles, Bhara only need to eat once a week, and will usually allow the sand to cover up roots that it chooses not to eat.
Domestication[]
One of the more useful desert animals, Bhara are famously known for being widely domesticated by the nomads. While slower than horses, Bhara are even more key to survival. Standing at about 6 feet tall, and 9 feet long, a Bhara is one of the largest creatures in the desert, with the raw power to back it up. Bhara are used as pack mules, carrying tents, clothes, weapons, and supplies. This way, Nomads can keep their horses in good shape, only carrying the nomad and what they're wearing.
However, this does provide complications. Every night, they must be unburdened, so that they can sleep huddled together freely, and every morning, they must have their packs placed back on them. Furthermore, while ordinarily easy to lead around, when a Bhara finds a gourd, they've been known to be rebellious in pursuit of it. They've even been known to throw off some of their burdens when digging, though this is a tolerable complication, as the gourds are an invaluable source of nutrition to nomads.
When a Bhara dies, it's skin is used for boots, wallets, belts, as well as various other things.