Animal Class: Bird
Diet: Carnivorous
Close cousins of Thunderbirds, Rocs are a Critically Endangered species that have less than 200 living individuals.
Unlike their cousins, Rocs do not have any weather based powers and have to rely on size and strength to defend themselves and to hunt.
In their heyday, they terrorized the Middle East, but their numbers began to dwindle after their main food source, Elephants, went extinct in the region and when humans began to realize just how good they, and their eggs, tasted.
Rocs usually only lay one egg at a time and since they are often left unguarded, it makes it very easy for hungry predators to prey on the eggs. This is another reason that their numbers are so low.
The few Rocs that still exist have moved far from their original home in the Middle East and now live in countries with large Elephant populations like China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Since the environments of their new areas are very different from the environment they evolved to live it, Rocs have struggled to adapt to them.
Like Thunderbirds, it is believed that Rocs evolved from the Teratornis, but is it still unclear as to how the Teratornis species made it so so far East.
It is estimated that Rocs only have around 10 years left before their species completely go extinct.
Based on accounts, Rocs used to be very aggressive around Humans, but as time has passed and their numbers have went down, they have become much less confrontational and avoid Humans at all costs.
In more recent years, small flocks of Rocs have been spotted, leading many to believe that the population decline has caused many Rocs to leave the solitary life of their ancestors behind in favor of spending what little time their species has left with others of their kind.
Many Animal Rights Activists have advocated for wild populations of Elephants to be released back into the Middle East so that Rocs can return to their native range. But all attempts have fallen on deaf ears.
Extra Fun Fact: A few Rocs have been observed heading out to sea to hunt Whales and many people believe that quickly adapting to a life at sea is what could save the species.
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