Sehlat
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
The sehlat is a giant "teddy bear"-like beast native to Vulcan. Sehlats have six-inch fangs and do not like to climb, preferring to remain on low ground. In 2154, Captain Jonathan Archer and Commander T'Pol were stalked by a wild sehlat in Vulcan's Forge.
Domesticated sehlats, which are only slightly smaller than wild sehlats, are a popular pet with Vulcan children. Sehlats, however, are very aggressive so Vulcan children learn early never to be late with their dinner. T'Pol had a pet sehlat in her youth. (ENT: "The Forge")
T'Pau was able to imitate the screams of a sehlat and misleaded Talok and two Vulcan commandos into the electric discharges of gallicite deposites. (ENT: "Kir'Shara")
Spock had a pet sehlat named I-Chaya during his youth that originally belonged to his father, Sarek. I-Chaya died in 2239, as a result of injuries inflicted from an attack by a le-matya. Spock chose to have his pet euthanized to end its suffering. (TOS: "Journey to Babel"; TAS: "Yesteryear")
[edit] Background information
- The sehlat seen in "The Forge" was a CGI character. It was never seen clearly because furry CGI characters are somewhat difficult to animate on a TV budget.
- The text commentary for "Yesteryear" on the Star Trek: The Animated Series DVDs, which was written by Michael and Denise Okuda, claims that Tuvok also had a pet sehlat. Any canonical evidence confirming this from Star Trek: Voyager has not yet been found by Memory Alpha.
[edit] Apocrypha
The novelization for "Yesteryear" by Alan Dean Foster stated that sehlats originated in the rainforests of Vulcan's southern hemisphere.
Tuvok's pet sehlat was named Wari in The Lost Era novel, The Sundered. He also encountered a wild sehlat in Pathways, with whom he developed a mutual appreciation.
[edit] External links
- Sehlat at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- The Sundered at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Pathways at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- The novelization of "Yesteryear" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
