As the populations of wild animals dwindle, conservationists are hoping that they can breed animals in zoos and later release them into the wild." in this sentence the word dwindle means

it is the background information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. the exposition will often have information about events that happened before the story began. the exposition is often the very first part of the plot.

explanation:

ward, and charles cooley, felt that social conflict was a process that should be in exploring social processes and social problems. conflict as a functional social process." 

i have a basic answer but if you want a more in depth