Fuzzy Nation John Scalzi 2011

ZaraCorp holds the right to extract unlimited resources from the verdant planet Zarathustra--as long as the planet is certifiably free of native sentients.

So when an outback prospector discovers a species of small, appealing bipeds who might well turn out to be intelligent, language-using beings.

It's a race to stop the corporation from "eliminating the problem," which is to say, eliminating the Fuzzies--who are as much people as we are.