Original sentence has "many times as rare as" which is the wrong usage. "as rare as" would be used to compare the rarity of 2 species. "many times" will be used to say one specie is more rare than other. "many times" and "as rare as" can't be used together.
A. wrong for above reason.
B. "Researchers have determined" comes very late in the sentence and the entire structure of the sentence is messed up
C. "many times more rare compared to " - wrong usage.
D. "being poached" and "increased cultivation" are not parallel.
E. correct.
The best way of checking the difference between “due to” and “because of” is by replacing the former with the phrase “cause by” and then rechecking. If the sentence makes sense, the usage is fine. If it doesn’t, then the answer choice is the one which contains “because of”.
For example :-
The dog was barking due to the night -> The dog was barking caused by the night. -> Makes no sense
The dog’s barking was due to the night -> The dog’s barking was caused by the night. -> Makes sense
In this question you can use the same process to get to the answer. However, the sentence contains other errors as well, because of which you will have to be wary of those as well.
A,B, C are straight out because of the use of “due to”
Between, D & E –> D uses “being” and them is “ambiguous”, "Because of" is immediately followed "by poaching" which still holds onto the structure.
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Thanks & Regards,
Anaira Mitch