National Animal

National Animals are creatures chosen as the official representation of the nation states that form the Known Galaxy.

Woglinde
During the Occupation, a Yohzhu Overlord brought turkeys from the Sol System to put in her private zoo. Many of them were accidentally released by the slaves handling them while on Kiyoshimo, where they found little competition or predators due to the devastation the wars had inflicted on the planet's wildlife.

The turkey's bred rapidly and when environmental reclamation projects began, the Woglindian government found that the invasive alien species was well settled in. Debates soon erupted over how to handle the birds. One faction wanted to remove the avian interlopers to return Kiyoshimo to its original pre-war environment. Others found this cruel and pointed out the turkeys were already filling necessary ecological niches and this were beneficial to the planet's recovery. More over, the idea of cleansing the planet of the alien birds did not sit right right with many citizens given that at this point, more than half of them were not from species native to Kiyoshimo either.

Save Our Turkeys protests convinced the project director to keep the birds, and Martian ornithologist were brought in to consult on how to best care for the birds' environments. Within a generation, turkeys were as natural to Kiyoshimans as any other animal.

When the subject of choosing a national animal came before the Assembly, the turkey was put forward for consideration.

"The turkey is a bird that has been through wars and tribulation, only to find itself on a dead world at the end. It is a bird that nonetheless endured and not only survived, but took on a strange new world head on. It rose from the ashes and came out something new, and greater. It is bird just like us."The turkey was unanimously chosen as the national animal of Woglinde.