I am not sure if this is the best practice for naming variables but I find the codes easier to read this way. Append the letter 'a' to every Class variables, 'p' to method/Constructor parameter, and 'l' to local variables .

If you do this I'm sure the guy who will maintain your code will not have a hard time debugging your code.

Class Animal {
    private String aAnimalType;
    public void setAnimalType(String pAnimalType){
        aAnimalType = aAnimalType;
    }
    public String getAnimalType(){
        return aAnimalType;
    }
}