Chapter 6 · Topic 6.3 · Prelims + Mains3 of 3
Wildlife Conservation: Chapter test
Key points
- One-horned rhino moved from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2008. National rhino strategy launched in February 2019.
- Three Gyps vultures fell by over 90% from the mid-1990s because of diclofenac.
- Diclofenac for animals banned on 4 July 2008. First breeding centre at Pinjore in 2004.
- Five sea turtles in India, all in Schedule I. Olive ridleys nest in arribadas in Odisha.
Prelims box: facts and traps
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Rhino status | Vulnerable since 2008 |
| Vulture species in India | Nine |
| Veterinary diclofenac ban | 4 July 2008 |
| First vulture breeding centre | Pinjore, Haryana, 2004 |
- Trap: meloxicam is the safe alternative, not a cause of vulture deaths.
On this page (3 sections)
Greater one-horned rhino
India’s only rhino is the greater one-horned rhino of the Brahmaputra floodplains and the terai (the wet grassy belt below the Himalaya). IUCN moved it from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2008 as numbers recovered (IUCN Asian Rhino Specialist Group report, 2019).
| Key habitat | State |
|---|---|
| Kaziranga, Manas and Orang National Parks; Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary | Assam |
| Jaldapara and Gorumara National Parks | West Bengal |
| Dudhwa National Park | Uttar Pradesh |
In February 2019, at the 2nd Asian Rhino Range States Meeting in New Delhi, India launched a national conservation strategy for the one-horned rhino. The five range countries signed the New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos (IUCN AsRSG report, 2019).
Vultures
Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew, eating dead animals. Nine vulture species are recorded from India. Three resident Gyps species, the white-rumped, long-billed and slender-billed vultures, crashed by over 90% from the mid-1990s (Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020–25, MoEFCC).
| Step | Detail (source) |
|---|---|
| Cause found | Veterinary diclofenac in livestock carcasses causes kidney failure in vultures (PIB, 15 December 2015) |
| Ban | Manufacture of diclofenac for animal use prohibited by gazette notification of 4 July 2008; multi-dose human vials restricted on 17 July 2015 (PIB, 15 December 2015) |
| Breeding | First Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore, Haryana, in 2004; eight centres in all (APVC 2020–25) |
| Plan | APVC 2020–25: Vulture Safe Zones, more breeding centres, safety testing of veterinary drugs |
Safe alternatives such as meloxicam were promoted in place of diclofenac (PIB, 15 December 2015).
Sea turtles
Five sea turtles occur in Indian waters: olive ridley, green, hawksbill, leatherback and loggerhead. All are in Schedule I.
Olive ridleys nest in mass events called arribadas, when thousands of females come ashore together, on Odisha beaches such as Gahirmatha (Bhitarkanika), Rushikulya and the Devi river mouth. Threats:
- getting caught in trawl nets (by-catch),
- lights near beaches that confuse hatchlings,
- loss of nesting beaches.
Turtle Excluder Devices on trawl nets let turtles escape.
Some turtles, fish and sea mammals are herbivores, and some snakes are viviparous, giving birth to live young (Prelims 2019: 1, 2, 3 and 4).
Consider the following statements : 1. Some species of turtles are herbivores. 2. Some species of fish are herbivores. 3. Some species of marine mammals are herbivores. 4. Some species of snakes are viviparous. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 3 only
- 2, 3 and 4 only
- 2 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 4
Show answer
Answer: (d) · UPSC official key
What UPSC asks: Prelims: Pinjore (2004), arribada. Mains: diclofenac.
Mains box: analysis and answer points
- Rhino: recovery and the 2019 strategy.
- Vultures: diclofenac, ban, breeding, Vulture Safe Zones.
- Turtles: arribada and TEDs.
Practice
Practice MCQs (8)
The Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, require persons in possession of living specimens of which animals to report and register them?
Answer (b) & explanation
After the 2022 amendment, the Wild Life (Protection) Act has a Schedule IV listing specimens in the CITES Appendices. The Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024 (notified on 28 February 2024) require holders of living Schedule IV animals, mostly exotic species such as macaws, iguanas or marmosets, to report and register them through the PARIVESH 2.0 portal; existing holders had six months to do so, and births, transfers and deaths must also be reported.
Consider the following statements about India and CITES:
1. India ratified CITES in 1976.
2. India became a Party to CITES only after the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 was amended in 2022 to incorporate the Convention.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct. India ratified CITES on 20 July 1976, and the Convention entered into force for India on 18 October 1976; India then hosted CoP3 in New Delhi in 1981. Statement 2 is wrong: India was a Party for 46 years before the 2022 amendment of the Wild Life (Protection) Act. That amendment added a chapter and Schedule IV to give CITES a direct statutory basis, which led the CITES Standing Committee to place India's legislation in Category 1 in 2023.
Consider the following statements: Statement-I: In November 2023, the CITES Standing Committee placed India's legislation in Category 1 of the CITES National Legislation Project. Statement-II: The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 incorporated the provisions of CITES into Indian law.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer (a) & explanation
Both statements are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I. The National Legislation Project rates each Party's laws against four minimum requirements of Resolution Conf. 8.4: designate Management and Scientific Authorities, prohibit trade in violation of CITES, penalise such trade, and confiscate illegal specimens. India was earlier in Category 2 (meets some requirements). After the 2022 amendment added a CITES chapter and Schedule IV, the 77th Standing Committee (November 2023) confirmed India in Category 1, as PIB reported.
Consider the following animals:
1. Javan rhinoceros
2. Sumatran rhinoceros
3. Asiatic cheetah
4. Pygmy hog
How many of the above once occurred in the wild in India but are now extinct in the country?
Answer (c) & explanation
Three of the four are regionally extinct in India. The Javan rhinoceros and the Sumatran rhinoceros once lived in eastern and north-eastern India (the Sundarbans, Bengal and Assam) but disappeared from the country in the twentieth century; both now survive only in Indonesia. The Asiatic cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 and survives only in Iran. The pygmy hog, though Endangered, still lives in Assam and has been reintroduced into several protected areas.
Consider the following statements about the dugong:
1. It is a carnivorous marine mammal that feeds mainly on fish and squid.
2. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
3. India's first Dugong Conservation Reserve was notified in 2022 in Palk Bay under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
The dugong (sea cow) is a herbivore that grazes on seagrass meadows, so statement 1 is wrong. Globally it is Vulnerable. In India it survives in the Gulf of Mannar–Palk Bay region, the Gulf of Kachchh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On 21 September 2022 Tamil Nadu notified India's first Dugong Conservation Reserve, about 448 sq km in Palk Bay, as a conservation reserve under section 36A of the Wild Life (Protection) Act.
With reference to efforts to save the Great Indian Bustard, consider the following statements:
1. A habitat improvement and conservation breeding project for the species was launched in 2016 by the MoEFCC, the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India.
2. A National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan was announced at the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife held at Gir in March 2025.
3. The captive breeding centres of the project are located in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
The GIB recovery project was launched in 2016 as a joint effort of the MoEFCC, the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India, combining habitat improvement with conservation breeding. At the 7th meeting of the National Board for Wildlife at Sasan Gir on 3 March 2025, the Prime Minister announced a National GIB Conservation Action Plan. The breeding centres are at Sam and Ramdevra in Jaisalmer, not in Banni, so statement 3 is wrong.
Consider the following changes in the IUCN Red List status of species found in India:
1. The snow leopard was moved from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2017.
2. The lesser florican was moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered in 2021.
3. The greater one-horned rhinoceros was moved from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2008.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three changes are recorded on the Red List. The snow leopard was downlisted to Vulnerable in September 2017 after new estimates showed that it no longer met the Endangered thresholds, though its population is still declining. The lesser florican was uplisted to Critically Endangered in 2021 because surveys showed an extremely rapid fall in displaying males as grasslands were lost. The greater one-horned rhinoceros moved from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2008 as its numbers grew in Assam and Nepal.
Consider the following:
1. Northern river terrapin
2. Clouded leopard
3. Arabian Sea humpback whale
4. Red panda
How many of the above were added to India's Recovery Programme for Critically Endangered Species at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife in 2018?
Answer (d) & explanation
At its 49th meeting in June 2018, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife added four species to the recovery programme: the northern river terrapin, the clouded leopard, the Arabian Sea humpback whale and the red panda. Before this, 17 species were covered; the caracal was added later, in 2021. All four species in the list were part of the 2018 addition.
0 / 0 correct
Write an answer
In 150 words, explain the significance of Wildlife Conservation with one recent example.
Flashcards (4)
Rhino IUCN status?
Vulnerable (since 2008).
Drug behind vulture crash?
Diclofenac.
First vulture breeding centre?
Pinjore, Haryana (2004).
Olive ridley mass nesting sites?
Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, Devi mouth (Odisha).
In the news
- 25 Oct 2026₹1.04 crore of access and benefit-sharing money from crops shared with 27 States and 2 UTs
- 22 Oct 2026GRAP Stage I invoked in Delhi-NCR as AQI turns ‘Poor’: the 25 actions and what comes next
- 20 Oct 2026National Red List of birds: 1,211 species under assessment, 107 done in first review
- 16 Oct 2026CAQM orders PTZ cameras at all polluting industries in NCR by 30 November 2026
Next chapter · 7. Pollution →Pollution: Air pollutionSyllabus: GS-III · Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact asse…