Why can wildlife numbers decrease when vegetation decreases?

Correct answer: Food shelter and breeding sites can decrease

The direct answer is A: food, shelter, and breeding sites can decrease. Vegetation means plants such as trees, grasses, shrubs, and herbs. Wildlife depends on plants in several ways. Herbivores eat plants, and many carnivores depend indirectly on those herbivores. Trees and bushes provide homes, shade, hiding places, nests, and safe areas for raising young. Step by step: first, vegetation is removed or becomes thinner; second, available food and shelter decrease; third, animals must move, compete more, or fail to reproduce; therefore wildlife numbers may fall. Option A is correct because it states these connected effects. Option B is wrong because many animals eat plants or depend on plant-based food chains, and almost all need vegetation for habitat. Option C is wrong because vegetation loss does not make rainfall immediately double; rainfall is controlled by wider atmospheric and geographical conditions. Option D is wrong because animals do not all prefer cities, which may be noisy, polluted, and unsafe. Remember: less vegetation usually means less food, less shelter, and fewer safe breeding places.