Quokka

　Hi,/everyone!// Let me show you a cute animal/in Australia.//
　Look at these pictures.// I wonder/if you’ve seen this animal before.// It’s a quokka.// It lives/only in the marshy areas of Western Australia.// It has a round body/and is as big as a cat.// It’s a marsupial animal/and has long strong legs like a kangaroo.// So,/it can bound along quickly.//


　Quokkas once widely inhabited Western Australia.// But human cultivation robbed them/of their habitat.// Other animals which people brought to Australia/attacked quokkas/and their numbers decreased.//
　You can,/however,/still see wild quokkas living on Rottnest Island.// This is/because Rottnest Island is off the coast/and there is little threat from humans or animals.// People now visit the island on holidays/and enjoy watching quokkas.//


　Because quokkas like hard nuts, bark and leaves,/the muscles at the corners of their mouths develop.// So,/quokkas look like/they are smiling.// That’s why they are called/“the happiest animals in the world.”// We must take care of them.//
　On the other hand,/in order to protect quokkas,/we must not touch or feed them.// I hope/that quokkas will “smile” forever!//
　Thank you for listening.//