The Dominant Male

Argo Study Trip, Entry 12
Day 28: The Dominant Male

With the flagship task of our journey complete, the next goal was to track down the only two species of non-wyvern dragons native to Argo. Our first stop in this leg of the trip was Ugati, the home of the most unique of all Argonian dragons, the Wakaluu. The first day on Ugati was surprisingly uneventful, since we were hard-pressed to find even one of these bizzare creatures. That was before the second day, however...
We'd managed to track down a mob of Wakaluu in the mid-afternoon, under an overcast sky. Since these creatures did not have predators and had therefore evolved a slower metabolism than other dragon species, we had low expectations from this mob. It was late in the afternoon, however, when we were just about to leave for the day, when it happened.
A rival male Wakaluu, apparently equal in size and strength to the alpha male, arrived on the scene, with another, smaller mob waiting in the distance. Both parties immediately stood up and began making threat displays - snarling, flapping their wings and clawing the air in front of them. After a few minutes of this, both alphas stepped forward, and I noticed that the rival alpha did not sport any noticable scars. The rival mob had apparently been weaned from their parents and left to establish their own territory. Both males faced off, manes raised, and then the fight began. It was an impressive sight.
Both sexes of Wakaluu will fight for drinking spots or territories, but only males partake in ritualized battles. One or both of them will adopt a high standing posture, with one male issuing a challenge by grasping the other male’s neck with his front claws, though sometimes the challenge will be declined. Weaker individuals will back out if they see that their opponent is stronger, but same-sized ones often do not. If a fight begins, both males will claw at each other with their forelimbs or grapple and wrestle with each other. However, it is the hindlimbs that do the most damage. Leaning back on their tails, they will strike out with blows that can inflict deep gashes on an unwary opponent.
In the end, the resident male was able to see off the challenger. I felt sorry for the rogue mob, actually - I was hoping we would see them get along more easily. Making a split-second decision, I tranquilized the challenger alpha just as he was about to leave, and placed an ID tag on him so we could keep track of him and his mob. Tomorrow, we will begin the migration along with them, observing these strange dragons, and along the way hoping they will find a new home to live in.

Drawing 6 of 12 for ~The-Great-Stash.
I may have to change the major body colors for both of these guys later. For some reason, they look pink, but I'm pretty sure that the actual observations give them a more reddish color.

Wakaluu (c)