UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Caught in kitchen garden net, tiger cub returned to the wild
Q1. With reference to the statutory and administrative framework for tiger conservation in India, consider the following:
1. Project Tiger was launched in 1973 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, Corbett being among the areas covered at its inception.
2. The National Tiger Conservation Authority was given statutory status through an amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 made in 2006.
3. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau was also constituted as a statutory body by the same amendment of 2006.
4. The Act requires the buffer or peripheral area of a tiger reserve to be kept inviolate, with no human use permitted in it.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Project Tiger was launched in 1973 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, Corbett being among the areas covered at its inception.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority was given statutory status through an amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 made in 2006.
- The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau was also constituted as a statutory body by the same amendment of 2006.
- The Act requires the buffer or peripheral area of a tiger reserve to be kept inviolate, with no human use permitted in it.
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1 and 4 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q2. Consider the following statements distinguishing Project Tiger from the National Tiger Conservation Authority:
1. Project Tiger is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, whereas the National Tiger Conservation Authority is an authority constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
2. Project Tiger was in operation for over three decades before the National Tiger Conservation Authority acquired statutory status, which followed the report of the Tiger Task Force of 2005.
3. Unlike the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, the National Tiger Conservation Authority was set up by a separate Act of Parliament rather than by an amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Project Tiger is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, whereas the National Tiger Conservation Authority is an authority constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Project Tiger was in operation for over three decades before the National Tiger Conservation Authority acquired statutory status, which followed the report of the Tiger Task Force of 2005.
- Unlike the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, the National Tiger Conservation Authority was set up by a separate Act of Parliament rather than by an amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which one of the following correctly describes the areas designated as the core or critical tiger habitat of a tiger reserve?
- A. Areas of a tiger reserve delineated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and notified by the Central Government, required to be kept free of all tourism
- B. Areas of a tiger reserve recommended by the National Board for Wild Life and notified by the Central Government, in which regulated forest rights continue
- C. Areas of a tiger reserve established on scientific and objective criteria and notified by the State Government in consultation with an Expert Committee, required to be kept inviolate
- D. Areas of a tiger reserve demarcated by the Wildlife Institute of India and notified by the State Board for Wild Life, in which only livestock grazing is regulated
Q4. With reference to the agencies that operationalise tiger conservation in India, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. Project Tiger is run as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with the National Tiger Conservation Authority exercising statutory oversight over tiger reserves
- B. Tiger reserves are administered exclusively by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the State forest departments having no management responsibility whatsoever within them
- C. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is the sole authority empowered to prepare and approve every Tiger Conservation Plan drawn up for a notified tiger reserve in the country
- D. The National Board for Wild Life is the only body through which all central funds for tiger conservation are released to each of the tiger range States every year
Q5. Consider the following statements regarding the 2024 tiger estimation figures for the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve:
1. The Eastern Assam Wildlife Division recorded an increase over its earlier count, while the Nagaon Wildlife Division remained unchanged.
2. The Biswanath Wildlife Division, sampled for the first time, returned a smaller number of tigers than the Nagaon Wildlife Division.
3. The tiger density recorded for the reserve was lower than that recorded for both Bandipur and Corbett.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Eastern Assam Wildlife Division recorded an increase over its earlier count, while the Nagaon Wildlife Division remained unchanged.
- The Biswanath Wildlife Division, sampled for the first time, returned a smaller number of tigers than the Nagaon Wildlife Division.
- The tiger density recorded for the reserve was lower than that recorded for both Bandipur and Corbett.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. The following figures are attributed to the 2024 tiger estimation for the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve:
1. Total adult tigers in the reserve — 148
2. Tigers recorded in the Biswanath Wildlife Division at its first-ever sampling — 27
3. Tiger density in the reserve — 18.65 per 100 sq km
4. Female tigers among the adult tigers of the reserve — 55
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Total adult tigers in the reserve — 148
- Tigers recorded in the Biswanath Wildlife Division at its first-ever sampling — 27
- Tiger density in the reserve — 18.65 per 100 sq km
- Female tigers among the adult tigers of the reserve — 55
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q7. Kaziranga National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985 in recognition of its being the single largest undisturbed and representative area of which one of the following?
- A. The Terai-Duar savanna and grassland belt of the Himalayan foothills
- B. The Brahmaputra Valley floodplain
- C. The Barak Valley wetland and swamp forest tract
- D. The Karbi Anglong plateau and its evergreen hill forests
Q8. Kaziranga's standing as a World Heritage Site means, precisely, that the property has been:
- A. Designated by the IUCN as a Category II protected area of outstanding universal value under its protected area management categories
- B. Listed by the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance on account of its floodplain grasslands
- C. Declared by the UNEP as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and the Biosphere Programme network of protected sites
- D. Inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, on natural criteria
Q9. Which one of the following statements about the most recently notified tiger reserve of India is correct?
- A. Ratapani, notified in 2025, lies in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh and is that State's ninth tiger reserve
- B. Madhav, notified in 2025, lies in the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh and is that State's ninth tiger reserve
- C. Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla, notified in 2025, lies in Chhattisgarh and is that State's fourth tiger reserve
- D. Dampa, notified in 2025, lies in Mizoram and is the only tiger reserve of that State
Q10. Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the buffer or peripheral area of a tiger reserve is best described as:
- A. An area peripheral to the critical tiger habitat where a lesser degree of habitat protection is required, so as to promote co-existence between wildlife and human activity
- B. An area within the critical tiger habitat from which all human settlement and forest rights must be relocated on payment of compensation to the right-holders
- C. An area of a tiger reserve separately notified as a conservation reserve, in which the customary rights of local communities stand wholly extinguished
- D. An area lying outside the tiger reserve and notified as an eco-sensitive zone, in which commercial activity of every kind is prohibited by the notification
Q11. Consider the following statements about the standard operating procedures issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority:
1. Separate procedures exist for emergencies arising from the straying of tigers into human-dominated landscapes and for tiger depredation on livestock.
2. The procedure for active management towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas is framed to operate at the landscape level, unlike the straying-tiger procedure, which addresses an emergency situation.
3. There is no procedure covering the reintroduction or supplementation of tigers in the wild, such translocations being governed solely by the terms of CITES.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Separate procedures exist for emergencies arising from the straying of tigers into human-dominated landscapes and for tiger depredation on livestock.
- The procedure for active management towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas is framed to operate at the landscape level, unlike the straying-tiger procedure, which addresses an emergency situation.
- There is no procedure covering the reintroduction or supplementation of tigers in the wild, such translocations being governed solely by the terms of CITES.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q12. Consider the following statements about international arrangements for big cat conservation:
1. The Global Tiger Forum is an inter-governmental body devoted to the tiger and is hosted by India, whereas the International Big Cat Alliance covers seven big cat species and has its headquarters in India.
2. The goal of doubling the number of wild tigers was adopted at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit of 2010, which also established Global Tiger Day on 29 July.
3. The International Big Cat Alliance became a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation in 2025, its establishment having been approved by the Union Cabinet in 2022.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Global Tiger Forum is an inter-governmental body devoted to the tiger and is hosted by India, whereas the International Big Cat Alliance covers seven big cat species and has its headquarters in India.
- The goal of doubling the number of wild tigers was adopted at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit of 2010, which also established Global Tiger Day on 29 July.
- The International Big Cat Alliance became a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation in 2025, its establishment having been approved by the Union Cabinet in 2022.
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 2 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3