Ossenavis

Name: Ossenavis or Desert Walker
Size: 1.8-2 meter high and 3 m long from head to tail.
Weight: 600-1,000 kg
Diet: Herbivore
Habitat: Desert-Arid Savannah-Arid scrublands
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Built in every way for survival in the desert with large fat deposit in large bony growth on their back, the upward turned noses, massive foldable ears, and large padded tough feet. Often called the armored ship of the desert, it has bony growth that store fat but also protect it against predators. Only the knee cap protection has no fatty marrow and when laying down to rest to protect the knee from hot and abrasive sand, and in addition eye plates that protect from damage from attacks, sand and even the sun (like bill of a baseball cap). The rest of external bony growth are very hard and smooth exterior with a spongy interior filled with blood and fat. The fat in their bony growth when fully fat filled (86-100 kg) to survive up to 15 days without water, but normally they need to drink every seven days during hottest part of summer. With starvation the fat storage is used and the large bony growth become hollow, and a person can knock on the nearly hollow bony growth to hear a hollow sound. The exterior continuous grow slowly as worn smooth by wind and sand, and this makes it very hard for predators to get a grip on. When cold, the blood is constrict and drawn into the core of the body and out of the bony growth as bone exterior is poor insulator. When cooling off in the shade or warming up in sunrise, the blood will pump into bony growth to point the capillary near the bony exterior where they become engorged making the bony growth looking pinkish even reddish. This allow them to cool off and warm off quickly, but sadly they are not adapted to long period of cold. So they are migratory and nomadic in search for food and water as well remain in spring and summer season regions as they cannot really tolerant fall and winter with longer colder night and shorter days. Another adaption is their nose that can close tightly and upward turn, thus allow them to breath in sandstorm even bury in sand. They do not sweat, specialized kidney to minimize water loss, and survive up to 30% water loss. A complex networks of large blood in the neck and head to draw blood from brain to bony growth for cooling and keeping the brain cool. Also ears are fold-able for heat exchange like the bony growth, and they can expand to help cooling and close up to help conserve heat. They can drink up to 10-20 liter per minutes. The large padded feet widened as they press down on their feet creating a more surface area preventing sinking. They feed on pretty much on any desert and arid plant they encounter including thorny plant, and they have very tough leathery lip and tongue to handle even most thorny of plants.  It will eat bones, and even fish, and it will drink even saltwater and brackish water. They often travel in herds and huddles for warmth at night. Herds can be from 5-25 and since they are non-territorial herds easily form super-herds up 100-500 even 1,000s in times and areas of great bounty. Ultimately they have very few predator, and if predator is spotted they can easily out run them. If the predator does caught them, they will bite, spit, buck, kick, and even roll to get a predator off and allow them to escape. They are long lived animal living up to 50-75 years.
Reproduction:
No breeding season and mate through out the years. Females will come into heat several times, but only give birth once a year. A female may come into heat up to 35 times a year until she has successfully mate due to fact the fact Ossenavis do sometimes travel solo or small herd with no males as food and water are scarces. Thus a female Ossenavis not see a male for months. Female will remain in heat for any period of time for 8 days until she is successfully mated. Normally a herd has a dominant male whom assert his dominant by intimidating with head bobbing and punishing any male showing sign of threat to his dominance by biting the sides. When a female is in heat, the dominant male will not only try to mate with the female but will drive away any other males from the female. The mating male will produce foaming saliva that he smears on the female's face, she will smell and even taste it. This behavior is the tell blood line to prevent inbreeding, how healthy the males is, and testosterone level of the male. If she is interested, she will wag her tail in front of the male. The male will bob his head up and down to signal the female for mating, and the female will then kneed down to allow the male to mount. The male will mate daily with the female until she is out of heat and non-receptive. A female will give birth to a single calf after 15 months, and the calf can walk on it by end of the first to keep on with the herd. The calf will be nursed for about a 6 months and remain under their mother care until they are 2 years old. Female reach sexually mature at 3 years old, but mate at 4-5 years old. Males sexually mature at 3 years old too, but rarely able to mate until they are 6-10 years old. 
Humans:
A common domesticated animal as beast of burden and transportation, but also for somewhat as livestock for meat and milk. Due to docile nature and toughness has made them a favorite for many desert nomadic tribes. Some tribes, Ossenavis is so important for traveling and important to survival of a person family that to insult a man's Ossenavis is to greatly insult him. Often Ossenavis are treated with greatest of care in some tribes, and to injury on purpose to an Ossenavis is a sin that punished by inflicting a similar injury only twice in degree of damage.  Example, if a man get angry and whip the eye of Ossenavis to go blind in that eye, then the punishment is striking the man's eye to where it loses the eye and damages the eye area. However not all tribes share this love for Ossenavis, and Ossenavis will spit at person if angry or scared. Misbehaving Ossenavis especially spitting Ossenavis are killed and eaten. Ossenavis is so icon with the desert that many store sign that sell spices and goods from the deserts have Ossenavis on them. Even semi-arid nations have Ossenavis on their flags. Ossenavis are so prized that all tribes and nations have Ossenavis thieves brutally killed and body toss into the desert as garbage.