In many countries today, laws protect wildlife. In India, the need for such protection was realized centuries ago.About 300 B.C. an Indian writer described forces that were somewhat like national parks today. The killing of game beasts wascarefully controlled. Some animals were fully protected. Within the forest, nobody was allowed to cut timber, burn wood for charcoal,or trap animals for their furs. Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were trapped or killed outside the park, so that otheranimals would not become uneasy.
     The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before. About a thousand species of animals are in danger ofdisappearing, and the rate at which they are being destroyed had increased. With mammals, for instance, the rate of disappearance isnow about one species every year; from A.D. 1 to 1800, the rate was about one species every fifty years. Everywhere, men are trying tosolve the problem of preserving wildlife while caring for the world’s growing population.
41. This account states that the need for protecting wildlife _______.
(A) was known in the distant past
(B) is greater now than ever before
(C) Both A and B
(D) Neither A nor B