1 Look at the title and read the article. In general, is the situation with
falling numbers of animals getting better or worse?
WILDLIFE CRISIS
We all know that the things we do can damage the environment. However, it might be
worse than we thought. In a 2016 report, Scientists said that since 1970, the number of
wild animals on Earth had fallen by about 60%. According to the report, this number could
be as high as 67% by 2020. They also said that humans were the biggest cause.
The report said that nearly half of these species had fewer places to live because of
farming, building projects and people cutting down trees. Other major causes, the report
said, were hunting and fishing (more than 300 species could disappear completely because
humans kill them for food, sport or protection) as well as climate change and pollution.
There are a few positive signs though. In 2010, there were just over 3000 wild tigers left
in the world, but experts think their numbers are increasing. There are now an estimated
4,000 tigers in the wild. However, there are still far fewer tigers than there were in 1900,
when there were approximately 100,000.
