Nagas of New Malaysia

The Naga of New Malaysia is the largest flying animal in known space. Once found all over the planet, they are now limited to the far southern continet of New Kelantan. The entire continent of New Kelantan is a nature preserve and while a limited number of tourists are allowed to go there every year, there are no permanent human settlements.

The Naga is an amphibian that lays forty to fifty eggs a year in the water where they hatch. The adolescent naga spends the first two years of it's life living solely in the water. After the first stage of there life, which less than 20% of them survive, the young Naga pulls itself onto land where it spins a cocoon in which it remains for 6 months metamorphosis into the very recognizable land form.

Once the New Malaysian Naga emerges from his cocoon, it quickly grows gaining 2.5 kilos a day the first several years in its land form until it reaches its full adult size. The Nagas are territorial and omnivorous, their diet relies heavily on meat.
The large animals are able to fly because of several factors. First New Malaysia has its gravity at only .9 g as well as an atmosphere which is slightly thicker than would be found on earth at similar altitudes. Those two factors combined with the fact that the Naga have two bladders filled with hydrogen gas that its body generates makes the huge animal light enough for its powerful wings to lift into the air and reach very high speeds.

The settlers of New Malaysia realized they had to hunt the Nagas as they would eat the settler's goats sheep and cattle. Large numbers of domesticated animals that the settlers brought were eaten before they were able to start mass producing small portable rocket launchers. Many of the settlers in the second wave of colonization were surprised to see farmers carrying RPGs around as they went about their daily work.

While most of the Nagas now live on the New Kelantan continent, they also inhabit several small southern islands. When the occasional Naga flys into inhabited areas and if they are not killed by local farmers; they are tranquilized tagged and shipped back to New Kelantan. Those animals that continue to invade human inhabited areas are captured and destroyed.