Bukshah

Bukshah are a species of domesticated animals native to the Rin valley on the island of Maris.

Early history
Three hundred years ago the people of the Valley of Gold first tamed and cultivated the bukshah, keeping them in the valley located on the eastern side of the Mountain, which they called the Valley of the Bukshah, today known as the Rin valley. They used the animals to help plough their fields, to carry heavy loads, used their wool to make warm clothes for the winter, and drank the thick, creamy milk from the females and made it into cheese and curd. When the people were enslaved and brought across the sea by the Zebak to their land, the bukshah were left behind and lived there for centuries on their own. The Zebak wiped the memories of the people from the Valley of Gold, so they would not remember Maris or the bukshah.

When the Zebak invaded Maris they used the mind-wiped warrior slaves from the Valley of Gold. The slaves, however, rebelled when the Zebak landed on the coast of the island, joining forces with the Maris folk and the Travellers to drive back the Zebak. Wishing to find a place to call their own, the Travellers told the people of the Valley of the Bukshah, nestled in-between the hills and the Mountain, and the former slaves decided to seek it out. They tramped for many days, and one afternoon, topped a rise, and rediscovered the secret valley, although they had no memory of it. They also refound the bukshah.

After building Rin in the valley, like before, the people began reusing the bukshah for their milk, to help plough the fields in the valley, as well as beasts of burden on long trips to the coast. It became the tradition to let the quieter, shyer children become the keepers of the animals, due to the percieved ease of tending such docile creatures.

Habitat
Bukshah live in the bukshah fields in the Rin valley located inland on the island of Maris, to the west of the coast.

Anatomy
Bukshah look quite like bison, and they have wooly manes. They are very large, four-legged animals, typically with shaggy grey wool fur, though they have been known to breed black-haired young. Bukshah have tiny brown eyes and big shining horns. Female bukshah produce thick, creamy milk, which is drunk by the Rin people and used to make cheese and curd. Their wool is used to make blankets and wooly clothes which keep the people warm during winters. their horns curl like those of bison, as seen in the official map of Rin.

Diet
Bukshah are exclusively herbivorous mammals. They like to graze on grass and hay. They also feed on the grey fungus found in ice creeper nests, such as the one in Mountain Heart.

Rowan of Rin

 * Rowan of Rin
 * Rowan and the Travellers
 * Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal
 * Rowan and the Zebak
 * Rowan of the Bukshah

Star of Deltora

 * Two Moons (mentioned as well as their wool by the historical trader Sven in A Trader's Life)