When the word "endangered" is mentioned, people usually think of particular species, like the panda or whooping crane. However, we would like to encourage you to think about (53) ____ in a broader context. It is habitats, the physical places (54) ____ species live and interact with one another. Although the development of special breeding programs, also known as captive conservation, may help some species in some cases, it is clearly not (55) ____ answer to the global problem. Indeed, (56) ____ we are able to protect natural areas where endangered species actually live, they have no future.
Species become endangered for a wide (57) ____ of reasons. By analyzing and grouping many individual cases, however, we find the same broad causes appearing again and again. They are Habitat Destruction, Exotic. Species, and Overexploitation. Among other factors threatening particular species are limited: distribution, disease, and pollution.