In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

The white tiger is an offspring of Bengal tiger, which has the necessary gene for white colouring. It has beautiful black stripes on (1) _____ white coat. (2) ______ species of animal has blue eyes and a pink nose.
A pure white tiger is totally white without any stripes, which is due to the presence of double recessive allele in the genetic code. It happens only in the Bengal tiger subspecies, and only one in 10,000 births can have it naturally. White tigers are rarely seen in the wild, and only twelve of them have been spotted in India (3) ______ the last one-hundred years. Tigers have a lifespan of 10-15 years. They are (4) _______ animals, and are fond of hunting at night. Their diet consists of any animals that they can catch, and can eat up to 40 pounds of meat at one time. After such a big meal, they usually remain away for several days from food. They are slow runners, (5) ______ good swimmers. They are poor climbers and cannot climb a tree easily. They live in an area ranging from 10 to 30 square miles depending upon the availability of prey, water and shelter. Habitat loss, poaching and expansion of the human population have together contributed to their becoming endangered. They are widely hunted for their body-parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicines.