Lindauzi

The Lindauzi are the race of bear-like aliens from Warren Rochelle's The Wild Boy novel.

Biology
The Lindauzi are described as a cross between a panther and a bear. They are tall, thick furred, stocky creatures that can walk either erect or on all fours, although most adult Lindauzi walk erect. There is a crest running down the back of the head that can be raised or lowered when showing emotion.

The Lindauzi were raised to sentience by a race called the Anati, and require an empathic bond with another sentient species to maintain their own sentience. The Anati had died out because of a virus, and the Lindauzi were attempting to replace them with humans.

History
After the destruction of their bond-mates, the Anati, from a virus, the Lindauzi came to Earth to attempt to re-create the bond with human beings-a race the Anati were revealed to have seeded long ago. They secretly released a virus into Earth's atmosphere and killed off millions of people, then appeared with a cure, hoping to be viewed as Earth's saviors. Any who would come and live with the Lindauzi would be able to get the cure. Some humans agreed out of desperation, while others refused and lived as wild humans.

The Lindauzi raised and bred humans like dogs, even calling them 'dogs',and selectively breeding in hopes of recreating the bond they required. A boy named Ilox showed promise, but was deemed a failure when he also showed interest in a human female. He was abandoned to the wild, and later, his son, Caleb, was captured by Lindauzi hunters. Ilox returned to the Lindauzi city to rescue Caleb-and to seek out his Lindauzi companion, Phlarx. Phlarx had become ill after the boy was taken from him, and the two could still sense each other via the bond they shared.

After Ilox, Phlarx and Caleb fled to the wild humans, or 'wolves', the leaders of the Lindauzi soon began to accept that the experiment was a failure. They had nowhere to go, and not nearly enough time to create another bond species before they lost their sentience and returned to a wild state. They could not return home, as the Lindauzi who remained behind would have also gone feral long ago. One of the scientists, after discussion with the leader, tampered with the ventilation controls on the domed city so that the Lindauzi would die painlessly, which they considered a better end than becoming wild animals and being hunted by humans. Ilox and Phlarx lived with Caleb in the wild tribe, and the two died close together. Phlarx could not handle the warm temperatures of the tropics and Ilox suffered with the loss of his bondmate, dying soon after. Only Caleb remained alive with the other humans.