UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Can wildlife thrive in India without active human intervention?

Q1. With reference to the camera-trap based capture-recapture method used in India's national tiger estimation, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Tigers need not be physically caught or tagged, because a camera image of an individually recognisable tiger itself serves as a 'capture'.
  2. The headline estimate can exceed the number of distinct tigers photographed, since the spatially explicit model also covers areas where tiger signs were found but no cameras were deployed.
  3. Because every tiger in a camera-trapped area gets photographed, the estimate is confined only to areas where camera traps were deployed.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. India's official tiger estimate for 2022 is reported with a lower and an upper limit rather than as an exact head-count.
  2. In capture-recapture methods, the number of animals never photographed is inferred statistically from how often identified individuals are re-detected, which introduces uncertainty into the result.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q3. With reference to the institutional framework for tiger conservation in India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The National Tiger Conservation Authority derives its existence from a statute, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as amended in 2006, and not merely from an executive order.
  2. Project Tiger predates the National Tiger Conservation Authority and continues to run as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2

Q4. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. The terms 'critical wildlife habitat' and 'critical tiger habitat' originate in two different statutes.
  2. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted as an amendment inserting a new chapter into the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q5. Consider the following assertion: Indian law on protected areas has moved away from a purely 'fortress' model of conservation that treats local people only as a threat to be excluded. Which of the statements given below support/supports the above assertion?

  1. More than three-fourths of India's tigers are found within protected areas.
  2. Notification of a critical wildlife habitat under the Forest Rights Act requires consultation with the Gram Sabha and the affected persons.
  3. Relocation of people from core/critical tiger habitat is to be carried out only on a voluntary basis.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q6. A tiger population confined to a single reserve has become small and cut off from other tiger populations. Consider the following statements about the likely consequences and remedies: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. Mating between closely related individuals becomes more frequent, raising the level of inbreeding.
  2. Restoring forest corridors to a larger tiger population would tend to restore genetic variation through gene flow.
  3. Strict protection that lets tiger numbers grow within the reserve is by itself sufficient to remove the genetic risk.
  4. Bringing in tigers from another population ('genetic rescue') is a recognised option when corridor restoration is too slow.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Q7. Consider the following facts: (i) India's tiger estimate rose across the 2014, 2018 and 2022 cycles; (ii) more than three-fourths of India's tigers are found within protected areas; (iii) a genetic study found tigers of one western Indian reserve to be nearly twice as inbred as central Indian tigers. Which of the following inferences can validly be drawn from the above facts?

  1. A rising national tiger count does not by itself ensure the genetic health of every local tiger population.
  2. Levels of inbreeding are broadly uniform across India's tiger populations.
  3. Because most tigers live within protected areas, tigers outside them are too few to matter for long-term conservation.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q8. If the apex predator is lost from a forest ecosystem in which it was the main regulator of large herbivores, which of the following is the most likely initial chain of effects?

  • A. An increase in herbivore density, followed by heavier grazing pressure on vegetation
  • B. A decrease in mid-sized predators, followed by a rise in their small prey
  • C. A decrease in herbivore density, followed by recovery of the understorey vegetation
  • D. An increase in primary productivity, followed by a rise in herbivore density