GE B1+ Unit 3 Use of English 3

The Cantabrian brown bear

The brown bear is found across North America, Europe and Asia. They can live in all sorts of places from the edges of deserts to mountains if they have ¹_______ food and somewhere to rest during the day. Although they are not endangered, they have ²_______ in some parts of the world. The Cantabrian brown bear is one group that came very close to disappearing. The Cantabrian bear lives in the mountains near the north coast of Spain, which has been their ³_______ habitat for centuries. As a result of hunting and construction, be ar numbers decreased rapidly during the twentieth century. ⁴_______ the 1970s, there were only about eighty bears left in the region. ⁵_______ , they were made a protected species in 1973. Since then, the number of bears in the region has ⁶_______ to around 200. The Cantabrian bear is still in danger, but charities are trying to get the message ⁷_______ that they need to be protected. They say we can’t do ⁸_______ them because they help to control other wild animal populations. Working with local governments, they have created conservation areas, which provide a ⁹_______ home for the bears. They are also trying to convince local farmers that they can live together. This means that the Cantabrian bear population is very ¹⁰_______ to grow in the future.