Hello all! this is my Star Trek Bestiary where I look at various creatures from the lore and
mythos and this time we’re looking into the Vulcan Urso-feline favourite, that has a lot of mentions
but only two on-screen appearances, the Sehlat. The Sehlat is a giant cat-like mammal native
to Vulcan. Also combined with a bear. They exist in both wild and domestic varieties
and apocryphal lore mentions several different subspecies which helps explain the level of
diversity we see in some of their portrayals. Biologically, they’re mammals, covered in fur
and they birth live young. Their fur is course and often thicker around the mane. It has a variety of
colours, but the most commonly seen types are differing shades of beige and brown, uniform in
colour. However there are several different coat patterns that can occur, from darker tones with
paler belly fur, to full on striped patterns. They have yellow cat-like eyes, remarkably good hearing
and most notably, two six-inch long sabre-teeth that curve down as canines. These grow in during
adolescence. In terms of size and scale, its mentioned that they are of similar weight and
measurement to a Brown Bear of earth, so that would place females at around 381 to 427kg
and males averaging around 477-534kg. Size-wise they seem to be around 244cm long by 133cm tall.
It’s mentioned that they are near odourless, which makes sense as the Vulcans have
domesticated them for generations, and they cannot tolerate many other species’ odours.
There do exist several varieties of Sehlat, some more closely resembling felines, while others,
such as I-Chaya bear a greater ursine resemblance. On top of this, they differing coat patterns may
represent the two climates in which the Sehlat are found, the arid deserts of Vulcan and the
tropical rainforests that spot the far southern hemisphere of the planet. Presumably the tan coat
is for natural camouflage in the desert, while the patterns serve to break up the silhouette in
a jungle. Jungle Sehlat were called Vai-Sehlat. The presence of these mighty fangs does indicate
a carnivorous nature, but they are in fact omnivores. While Sehlat will indeed stalk
prey for hours, even days in an attempt to procure fresh meat, they are also capable of
digging with their fangs into the ground to dig up edible roots, burrowing grubs and rodents.
Life in the deserts of Vulcan can be harsh, especially in the forge, and the thick coats
apparently insulate the creatures from the cold nights and hot days. I mean fur effectively
slows down the alteration of temperature as an insulator, so I guess this is quite feasible.
The tough day-to-day survival of the Sehlat drives it to be very possessive of its food sources,
hence the reason it will track prey for days if needed. This does bring it into competition with
other predatory species of Vulcan however, such as Le-Matya, another feline-like hunter with lizard
like qualities and venomous claws. These two species were notoriously adverse to one-another.
This drive to survive does render the Sehlat aggressive, territorial and protective of its own,
traits that persist even in domestic varieties. It is thought that Vulcans first domesticated Sehlat
back in the pre-awakening times, before Surak, before the sundering of the Romulans and Vulcan,
before their nuclear war. It’s is mentioned that large Sehlat were often ridden by early
Vulcan tribes into battles, and judging by the size of some Sehlat, they could indeed
serve as mounts for humanoids. However, all sehlat hate climbing, even so much as a steep incline,
making sticking to the high ground the best way to avoid encounters with them in the wild. Unlike
the Le-Matya however, which is quite lithe. Over the generations however, domestic Sehlat
have diminished in size comparatively to their wild cousins. They retain many of the wild traits
however, such as the territorial and protective urges, often seeing their owners as their
wards, pack, or I guess family, despite being mostly solitary animals in the wild. However,
it is a commonly stated fact, that a Vulcan is never late with their pet Sehlat’s dinner, as
they can become aggressive and unpredictable when hungry and that survival instinct kicks in. So
why were they such popular pets for Vulcans, with even Vulcan children taught to care for and raise
such a dangerous creature? Well, because of how strict the Vulcan adherence to logic
is. In many ways, alongside the teaching of responsibility that owning a pet brings,
it created a strong reason to commit to the practice of routine, and careful observation.
A Vulcan raising a Sehlat was a carefully coordinated action, one that eventually did
foster loyalty from the wild nature of the Sehlat, and one marked by patience, understanding and the
application of logical methodology from the Vulcan. In many ways, it was a teaching method
and tool to exercise logic, but I would also bet that it runs a little deeper too.
In many ways, the taming of a Sehlat, is like the Vulcan’s own history of restraining their savage
inherent nature with rigorous training and dedication. A creature with all the potential to
become naturally aggressive, feral and a dangerous hunter, being brought to heel with respect.
The similarities are hard to ignore. Although most Vulcans do still seem rather confused by the human
notion of pets, so the relation between Sehlat and Vulcan must be viewed as culturally different.
The popularity with Sehlats among the Vulcan people as pets has led to them becoming pets
of species outside of Vulcan, and present on Vulcan colonies, but only as pets. Wild Sehlat,
as far as we are aware exist solely on Vulcan. Either way, Sehlats still remain challenging
creatures to oversee, but loyal beasts when they achieve a deep connection to their owners.
There are apparently some old mentions of Sehlat that could mimic speech,
which seems a little far-fetched. They are rather intelligent, and can recognise certain commands,
but it’s not clear to what extent this understanding goes. I doubt they are truly,
fully sapient, but it really is unclear, we don’t get to see many Vulcans interact with their pet
Sehlat often, despite the fact that they are among the most commonly mentioned Star Trek animals, as
common a pet to the Vulcans as a dog is to humans. There are also mentions that they are resistant
to Disruptor fire, but I wouldn’t want to test that out on a domestic one, because no, and I
would really not want to be in the situation where I had to test it on a wild one. Because argh!
Thanks for watching this video on one of the most commonly mentioned, but far-to-infrequently
seen creatures of the Star Trek mythos. This one was requested a while ago, so sorry it
took so long but here you go! Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you next time. Goodbye!