Decision At Doona: Anne McCaffrey

Book I of Doona. Doona was a pastoral planet, a paradise of rivers, lakes, mountains and seas. The Hrubbans need Doona to revitalise their decadent race, to give them some of the pioneer spirit...But the Terrans also need Doona as an overspill from the crowded Earth. So both races send a colonising party and both begin to think of Doona at home. It's inevitable - one day the smooth skinned bi-ped mammal known as Man will come face to face with the furry, four-pawed mammal known as Hrubban...