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1. Tell me about an animal that is native to, beloved in or closely associated with your country.
2. Have you ever seen one in the wild? If yes, how? If no, why not?
3. Do you have a pet or have you ever had a pet? If yes, tell me about that animal. If no, why not?
4. Do you ever watch wildlife documentaries? If not, why not? If yes, tell us about an animal that you find impressive, shocking or fascinating.
5. Have you ever been hurt or narrowly escaped being hurt by an animal? Tell us about it. If not, which animal scares you the most? Why?
6. If you had unlimited time and money, of all the animals in the world, which would you most like to see in the wild? Why?

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Question 1

Australia has so many unique animals to choose from. If I have to pick one, I guess I'll go with the platypus. It looks like a cross between a beaver and a duck. It's a mammal but it lays eggs. It isn't aggressive but it's poisonous. What a crazy creature!

Question 2

No, I haven't. The platypus is very shy by nature. You'd be very lucky to see one in the wild. I have seen them when I've visited wildlife sanctuaries though.

Question 3

I don't have a pet now but my family always had dogs and cats when I was growing up. As an animal lover, I loved them all, but I spent the most time with my dog Floyd. He was awesome. Very clever, very loyal. He passed away shortly before I came to Japan.

Question 4

Yes, sometimes. I haven't seen a wildlife documentary for quite some time though. I think the octopus is a pretty impressive animal. They can change colour to camouflage themselves. They can fit through tiny spaces much smaller than you would believe. They can use tools and they are intelligent enough to solve mazes.

Question 5

I got scratched up pretty badly by one of my cats when I was about six or seven years old. We were having a family barbecue at our house and everyone brought their dogs. Long story short, the dogs chased after the cat and the cat ripped up my face when I tried to rescue him.

Question 6

I would like to see a pangolin in the wild. I know nothing about this animal but when I look at photos of them online, they look amazing. Like real-life Pokemon!

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
so many to choose from	から選択するようにたくさん
if I have to pick one	私が1つ選ばなければならないならば
shy by nature	恥ずかしがり屋
wildlife sanctuary	野生動物保護区
pass away	亡くなる
not for quite some time	しばらくの間ではありません
long story short	要するに
real-life	実生活