UPSC Prelims 2024 Q20: Indian Flying Fox and Vermin — Explained
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
The Indian Flying Fox is placed under the "vermin" category in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Statement-II:
The Indian Flying Fox feeds on the blood of other animals.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
- Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
- Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
UPSC dropped this question from evaluation.
Statement-wise explanation
- Statement-I: incorrect — Under the original Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, fruit bats were in Schedule V, the vermin list. That list also had the common crow, mice and rats, and an animal listed there could be hunted freely. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 came into force on 1 April 2023. It cut the schedules from six to four, removed the vermin schedule, and moved the Indian Flying Fox to Schedule II. So by the 2024 exam, the statement was out of date.
- Statement-II: incorrect — The Indian Flying Fox is an Old World fruit bat. It eats fruit, flowers, nectar and pollen, and pollinates flowers and spreads seeds as it feeds. Only three bat species feed on blood, the vampire bats, and they live only in Central and South America. Since the statement is false, it cannot explain Statement-I. The bat was called vermin because it damages orchard fruit, not because it drinks blood.
How to eliminate
Statement-II can be ruled out from basic knowledge. 'Flying fox' is the common name for large fruit bats, and blood-feeding bats are the American vampire bats. That removes the two options that make Statement-II correct, which leaves only 'Statement-I correct, Statement-II incorrect'. Most candidates and coaching keys picked that answer, because fruit bats sat in Schedule V for fifty years. The problem is that Statement-I was no longer true. The 2022 Amendment abolished the vermin schedule from 1 April 2023 and moved the Indian Flying Fox to Schedule II. On the law in force at the time of the exam, both statements are false. None of the four options covers 'both incorrect', so no option could be scored. That is the most likely reason UPSC dropped the question. Fact to remember: after the 2022 Amendment, the Act has no vermin schedule, and the Indian Flying Fox is in Schedule II.
Know more
Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act before and after 2022
The 1972 Act sorts species into Schedules, and a species' Schedule decides how strongly it is protected. The 2022 Amendment came into force on 1 April 2023. It reduced six Schedules to four.
| Before 2022 Amendment | After 2022 Amendment | |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule I | Animals with the highest protection | Animals with the highest protection |
| Schedule II | Animals with high protection (Part II also highly protected) | Animals with a lower level of protection |
| Schedule III & IV | Animals with lesser protection | III: protected plants; IV: specimens listed in the CITES Appendices |
| Schedule V | Vermin: common crow, fruit bats, mice, rats | Removed |
| Schedule VI | Specified plants | Merged into the new Schedule III |
What 'vermin' means. An animal declared vermin loses protection from hunting. Under Section 62, the Centre can still declare any wild animal outside Schedule I to be vermin, but only for a stated area and period. This is how the nilgai, wild boar and rhesus macaque have been declared vermin in some states. There is no longer a permanent vermin list.
Indian Flying Fox (Pteropus medius, earlier P. giganteus)
- One of the largest bats in South Asia. It roosts in large, noisy colonies in tall trees, often in towns and villages.
- Eats fruit, flowers and nectar. It pollinates flowers and spreads seeds, which helps forests regrow.
- IUCN Red List: Least Concern.
- Natural host of the Nipah virus. Kerala's Nipah outbreaks have been traced to this bat.
- Farmers have long seen it as an orchard pest, which is why it was once classed as vermin.
Exam tip: In questions on a 'Schedule' or 'category', check whether the 2022 Amendment changed it.
In the news
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 came into force on 1 April 2023 and abolished the vermin schedule. That made the old 'fruit bats are vermin' fact a ready trap. Kerala's Nipah outbreak in September 2023, carried by fruit bats, also kept the Indian Flying Fox in the news.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Statement-I is about how the 1972 Act classifies animals into Schedules, including its 'vermin' category.
- Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022: The 2022 Amendment rewrote the Act's Schedules, which decides whether Statement-I was still true in 2024.