Scientists estimate that at the beginning of 20th century 100,000 tigers flourished throughout Asia, from eastern Russia and Korea through eastern and southern China, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and into Pakistan. At the start of the 21st century only 5,000 to 7,000 tigers lived (1) __________Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Sumatra, Thailand, and Vietnam. Tigers are now extinct in Bali, Java, and around the Caspian Sea, and nearly so in China and North Korea. Less than 20 percent of today’s tiger habitat is located (2) __________, which means that the majority of the areas where tigers live could be lost to others uses, such as agriculture or urbanization.

Tigers are territorial- they live alone (3) __________ other tigers. The ideal tiger territory is a large forested area with rich vegetation for cover, plentiful water to drink and cool off in, and abundant deer, swine, and other large mammals to eat. With these three essential, tigers can thrive (4) __________tropical rain forests in Sumatra and Southeast Asia; cool oak and pine forest in the Amur River Valley in far eastern Russia; tall grass jungles (5) __________in Bangladesh; and mountain slopes in Bhutan.

A. in no more than a hundred species left

B. in the wild in just 14 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan,

C. in wildlife preserves which are built

D. in large areas that they defend from

E. in national parks or other protected areas

F. in India and Nepal; coastal mangrove forests

G. in diverse habitats and climates including

H. in the suburbs or on the outskirts of the city