A Glossary of National Animals
O through T (Part 3)
Published in
3 min readFeb 16, 2021
You’re done! Forget it! Don’t bother! You stink!
That’s what it must feel like to be declared extinct.
In Oman, that nearly happened to the Arabian Oryx,
On the list to be dropped nearly told they were next.
But take a look, protruding from its noble dome
Are elongated horns that are his all alone.
Cleverly first brought back in the zoos,
They were released into the wild to many yahoos.
The National Animal of Papua New Guinea
Is the swimming Dugong who is quite finny.
It’s cute little baby has developed the knack
Of hopping on Mom — free ride, piggy back.
The male Dugong forages seagrass meadows
Where it dines ’til sleepy and then to bed goes.
It’s a large, slow moving type of a fellow,
Does he fluff up the seagrass to use as a pillow?
