Dire Wolf
Dire wolves are huge wolves with enlarged frontal canine teeth and large mane-like scruffs. They are rather social creatures and are found all over Demrefor. They’re able to be tamed if raised from birth, but are still undomesticated and will become aggressive if handled incorrectly.
There are many subspecies of dire wolves, though the best-known are the common dire, the mountain dire, and the ice dire.
The common dire wolf is grey or brown in colour. They live in open fields and forests in family packs of anywhere between 5-20 members. Their diet consists of large game such as moose or deer, though during poor hunting seasons they may be caught stealing cattle from farmers.
The mountain dire are the largest dire wolf breed. They have huge paws and are great climbers; scaling mountains and leaping up to seven times their own length. They are less social when compared to other dires, living only in mating pairs and leaving their parents once able to hunt on their own; though their territories overlap with one another and they are rarely aggressive to their own kind.
Ice dires are the smallest dire wolves. Their pelts are generally white or grey in colour. Many Sentients from Aurn’la Ann claim that their dogs are half ice dire, though this is more often than not proven to be a lie as the offspring of dogs and dire are always infertile.
Though they cause damage to farms and often steal from hunters, dire wolves are a protected species under international law. This is because of the kayka; many orphaned kayka have found themselves raised by dire wolves. And while it is not healthy for the kayka, as dire wolves do not share the same social capacity as Sentient races do, there have been enough incidences of dires protecting kayka for kayka to seek the hunting of dires banned unless a cull is proven to be absolutely necessary.