Iriaz were gentle beings originating from the grassy planet of Dantooine. Although generally peaceful, they were capable of aggression if provoked. They were a favored prey animal for local hunters because of their relative abundance, especially in the vicinity of the Jedi Enclave.
Back in 3956 BBY, the crime boss Davik Kang, who was a leader in the Exchange, displayed a mounted iriaz head within the trophy room of his estate's on Taris.
Not long after the destruction of Taris, which was caused by the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War, a Dantooine resident named Rickard Lusoff ventured into the plains armed with his hunting blaster with the intention of killing his business associate, Calder Nettic. Arriving just after Handon Guld had already killed Nettic, he shot at Guld in frustration. During the subsequent investigation led by the Jedi Bolook and Revan, Lusoff falsely claimed he had been hunting iriaz.
The intention was for iriaz to be featured in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but they were ultimately removed. Dialogue from the quest known as "Murdered Settler" hints at their planned presence. One of the two suspects, Rickard Lusoff, states that he was hunting iriaz. If the player selects the dialogue option where Revan accuses Lusoff of lying due to the absence of iriaz, the Jedi Bolook scolds him for his lack of observation, asserting that iriaz are present all around them. This could have been an uncorrected error in the dialogue or a deliberate attempt to mislead the player during the investigation.
Certain modifications for both the PC and Xbox versions enable players to encounter iriaz by reactivating their unused game files.