Is there an easier way to input a lot of possible parameters into an else if statement?

I'm creating a game kind of like twenty one questions. The user is asked to think of a word: Food, Animal, or Object. The computer then asks a bunch of questions before eventually coming to the conclusion of what the word should be.

Currently, I've got the code for the most part worked out like this:

 //Guesses the animal based on given answers
if (a1.equals("Animal")) {
if (aA1.equals("Small") && aAs1.equals("Small") && aA2.equals("Land") && aA3.equals("No") && aA4 == 4 && (aAld1.equals("Plains") | aAld1.equals("Cities")) && (aA5.equals("Fur") | aA5.equals("Hair")) && aA6.equals("Yes") && (aAld2.equals("No"))) {
System.out.println("Mouse!");
/*
Size: Small, Small
Domain: Land
Wings: No
Legs: 4
Home: Plains | Cities
Skin Type: Fur | Hair
Common Pet: Yes
Domesticated: No
*/
} else if (aA1.equals("Small") && aAs1.equals("Small") && aA2.equals("Water") && aAw1.equals("Most") && aA3.equals("No") && aA4 == 0  && aA5.equals("Scales") && aA6.equals("Yes")) {
System.out.println("Fish!");
/*
Size: Small, Small
Domain: Water
Body of Water: Most
Wings: No
Legs: 0
Skin Types: Scales
Common Pet: Yes
*/
} else if (aA1.equals("Large") && aA2.equals("Water") && (aAw1.equals("Oceans") | aAw1.equals("Seas")) && aA3.equals("No") && aA4 == 0  && aA5.equals("Skin") && aAl1.equals("Dangerous") && aA6.equals("No")) {
System.out.println("Shark!");
/*
Size: Large
Domain: Water
Body of Water: Oceans | Seas
Wings: No
Legs: 0
Skin Type: Skin
Danger Level: Dangerous
Common Pet: No
*/
} else if ((aA1.equals("Small") | aA1.equals("Medium")) && (aAs1.equals("Small") | aAs1 != "Small") && (aA2.equals("Land")) && (aA3.equals("No")) && aA4 == 4 && (aAld1.equals("Cities")) && aAld2.equals("Yes") && aA5.equals("Fur") && aA6.equals("Yes") && aAfc.equals("Feline")) {
System.out.println("Cat!");
/*
Size: Small | Medium, Small | !Small
Domain: Land
Wings: No
Legs: 4
Home: Cities
Domesticated: Yes
Skin Type: Fur
Common Pet: Yes
*/
} else if ((aA1.equals("Small") | aA1.equals("Medium")) && (aAs1.equals("Small") | aAs1 != "Small") && aA2.equals("Land") && aA3.equals("No") && aA4 == 4 && aAld1.equals("Cities") && aAld2.equals("Yes") && aA5.equals("Fur") && aA6.equals("Yes") && aAfc.equals("Canine")) {
System.out.println("Dog!");
/*
Size: Small | Medium, Small | !Small
Domain: Land
Wings: No
Legs: 4
Home: Cities
Domesticated: Yes
Skin Type: Fur
Common Pet: Yes
*/
}else {
System.out.println("Sorry! That's not an animal we recognize yet. Better luck next time!");
System.exit(1);
}
}

It works fine for the most part, but entering in all of the possible parameters is exhausting, and takes a ridiculous amount of time. Plus, there's still some bugs, which include some questions outputs being "null" due to the fact that they're only asked based on the answer given beforehand. For example, the question "Does it live in the Mountains, Plains, Forests, Deserts, or Cities?" is only asked if the user enters "Land" when asking if it lives on Land, in the Sky, or in the Water. The problem here is that people describe things differently. If the word was "penguin", one person might say water, while another might say land. This messes up the algorithm when guessing if the word is penguin. (Does this make sense? I'm not sure how else to explain it)

Basically, I need to find a way to make the code considerably shorter while also solving the possibly null question output.

Yes there is an easier way!
Using a Map System should give you what you want.

Here is my solution:

Animal Class:

public class Animal {

    // Map variable gets created here
    Map<String, String> properties = new HashMap<>();

    // Constructor
    public Animal(String size, String domain, String wings, int legs, String home, String skinType, String commonPet, String domesticated) {
        properties.put("Size", size);
        properties.put("Domain", domain);
        properties.put("Wings", wings);
        properties.put("Legs", String.valueOf(legs));
        properties.put("Home", home);
        properties.put("SkinType", skinType);
        properties.put("CommonPet", commonPet);
        properties.put("Domesticated", domesticated);
    }
}

Main Class:

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Variables of the animals. Here you use the Animals classes constructor to fill the Animal Class Object attributes with values
        Animal mouse = new Animal("Small", "Land", "No", 4, "Plains,Cities", "Fur,Hair", "Yes", "No");
        Animal fish = new Animal("Small", "Water", "No", 0, null, "Scales", "Yes", null);
        // Here you can add all the animals!

        List<Animal> animals = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(mouse, fish /*, other animals... */));

        // foreach loop iterating thorugh the animals List
        for (Animal animal : animals) {
            if (animal.properties.get("Size").equals(aA1) /* && other conditions... */ ) {
                // Output: Animal Name
            }
        }
    }
}

    import java.util.Scanner;
public class TwentyOneQuestionsGame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Think of a word: Food, Animal, or Object.");
String[] questions = {
"Size: Small, Medium, or Large?",
"Where does it live? Land, Sky, or Water?",
"If Land, does it live in Mountains, Plains, Forests, Deserts, or Cities?",
"If Sky, does it have Wings? Yes or No?",
"If Land, how many Legs does it have?",
"If Water, what type of Skin does it have?",
"Is it Dangerous? Yes or No?",
"Is it a Common Pet? Yes or No?"
};
String[] answers = new String[questions.length];
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
for (int i = 0; i < questions.length; i++) {
System.out.println(questions[i]);
String input = scanner.nextLine();
answers[i] = input.toLowerCase();
}
if (answers[1].equals("land")) {
if (answers[0].equals("small")) {
if (answers[2].equals("cities")) {
if (answers[3].equals("no") && answers[4].equals("4") && answers[7].equals("yes")) {
if (answers[5].equals("fur") || answers[5].equals("hair")) {
System.out.println("It's a Cat!");
return;
}
}
} else if (answers[2].equals("cities")) {
if (answers[3].equals("no") && answers[4].equals("4") && answers[7].equals("yes")) {
if (answers[5].equals("fur") || answers[5].equals("hair")) {
System.out.println("It's a Dog!");
return;
}
}
}
}
}
System.out.println("Sorry! That's not something we recognize yet. Better luck next time!");
}
}

Try using this refactored code. It may not be fully correct but I think you can get a idea.