The shanjaru was a beast that was driven nearly to extinction at the time of the Cold War. Drooga the Hutt acquired what he believed to be the last two surviving members of the species, a male and a female, in order to serve them as part of his feast. Momi Andrell and a group of animal rights activists worked to save the shanjaru and repopulate the species. They stole the female from Drooga's pleasure barge and took genetic samples, sending them to Coruscant. The male shanjaru was later delivered to Drooga by Risha Drayen.