Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

In 1973, when the tiger appeared to ___(1)___ facing extinction, the World Wide Fund for Nature and ___(2)___ Indian Government agreed to set up “Operation Tiger”- a campaign ___(3)___ save this threatened creature. They started by creating nine special parks so that tigers could live in safety. The first was at Ranthambhore, a region ___(4)___ was quickly turning into a desert as too much of the grass was being eaten by the local people’s cattle. At the time there ___(5)___ just fourteen tigers left there. The government had to clear twelve small villages, which mean moving nearly 1,000 people and 10,000 cattle so the land could be handed back to nature.