Environment MCQs for UPSC Prelims — June 2026
Q1. Among the following categories of protected areas under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which one carries the highest degree of legal protection against human activity?
- A. Wildlife Sanctuary
- B. Conservation Reserve
- C. National Park
- D. Community Reserve
Q2. Under which centrally sponsored scheme is the Hangul conserved through the 'Recovery Programme for Critically Endangered Species and Habitats'?
- A. Project Elephant
- B. National Mission for a Green India
- C. Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats
- D. Project Tiger
Q3. Which institution serves as the scientific/technical lead for the Hangul recovery project carried out under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme?
- A. Zoological Survey of India
- B. Wildlife Institute of India
- C. Botanical Survey of India
- D. National Biodiversity Authority
Q4. Which one of the following is the largest tiger reserve in India by area?
- A. Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve
- B. Sundarbans Tiger Reserve
- C. Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve
- D. Manas Tiger Reserve
Q5. The scientific recovery plans for tiger reintroduction in India (as implemented at Sariska and Panna) are formulated by the NTCA in collaboration with which one of the following institutions?
- A. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
- B. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata
- C. Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
- D. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore
Q6. The mandate of the India-led International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) covers the conservation of how many big cat species?
- A. Five
- B. Seven
- C. Nine
- D. Four
Q7. Project Tiger, launched in 1973, is most accurately described as which one of the following?
- A. A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for in-situ conservation of tigers
- B. A statutory authority created by an amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act
- C. An Act of Parliament dedicated to tiger conservation
- D. An inter-governmental international alliance for big cat conservation
Q8. The Standard Operating Protocol for reintroduction and supplementation of tigers in the wild was released at which one of the following meetings of the National Tiger Conservation Authority?
- A. 20th NTCA meeting (April 2022)
- B. 19th NTCA meeting
- C. 21st NTCA meeting
- D. 18th NTCA meeting
Q9. With reference to the NTCA's Standard Operating Protocol on tiger reintroduction and supplementation, consider the following statements:
1. The SOP was released at the 20th meeting of the NTCA in April 2022.
2. 'Supplementation' refers to adding tigers to an existing but depleted population, whereas 'reintroduction' re-establishes a population where tigers have become locally extinct.
3. The 2008 Sariska exercise is an example of supplementation rather than reintroduction.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The SOP was released at the 20th meeting of the NTCA in April 2022.
- 'Supplementation' refers to adding tigers to an existing but depleted population, whereas 'reintroduction' re-establishes a population where tigers have become locally extinct.
- The 2008 Sariska exercise is an example of supplementation rather than reintroduction.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. The All India Tiger Estimation, the quadrennial census that produced the 2022 figure, is spearheaded by which one of the following bodies?
- A. National Tiger Conservation Authority
- B. Wildlife Institute of India
- C. Zoological Survey of India
- D. Botanical Survey of India
Q11. With reference to the All India Tiger Estimation 2022, consider the following:
1. Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest tiger population among the States.
2. Karnataka recorded the second-highest tiger population.
3. Maharashtra recorded the third-highest tiger population.
4. The all-India tiger estimate was 3,682.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest tiger population among the States.
- Karnataka recorded the second-highest tiger population.
- Maharashtra recorded the third-highest tiger population.
- The all-India tiger estimate was 3,682.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q12. Which one of the following was independent India's first tiger reserve to undergo a structured tiger reintroduction after losing its entire tiger population to poaching?
- A. Sariska Tiger Reserve
- B. Panna Tiger Reserve
- C. Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
- D. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
Q13. In India's first structured tiger reintroduction at Sariska Tiger Reserve (2008-09), how many tigers were translocated from Ranthambore?
- A. Two
- B. Three
- C. Five
- D. Seven
Q14. The National Tiger Conservation Authority was constituted as a statutory body under which one of the following laws?
- A. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
- B. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- C. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
- D. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
Q15. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which operationalises Project Tiger and the national tiger reintroduction protocol, functions under which one of the following Union Ministries?
- A. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- B. Ministry of Tribal Affairs
- C. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
- D. Ministry of Earth Sciences
Q16. India is a member of which inter-governmental body, headquartered in New Delhi, dedicated to tiger conservation across tiger-range countries?
- A. Global Tiger Forum
- B. Global Tiger Initiative
- C. International Union for Conservation of Nature
- D. World Wide Fund for Nature
Q17. At the National Workshop on Tiger Re-introduction at Alwar, which publication was released as the principal document on the active management of tigers in India?
- A. Road Map on Active Management of Tigers in India
- B. Booklet on Reintroduction and Recovery of Tigers in India
- C. Annual Report of Project Cheetah
- D. Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India report
Q18. A State Government notifies the core/Critical Tiger Habitat of a tiger reserve on the recommendation of which body?
- A. National Tiger Conservation Authority
- B. National Board for Wildlife
- C. Central Zoo Authority
- D. Wildlife Institute of India
Q19. Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the tiger is listed in which Schedule, signifying the highest degree of legal protection?
- A. Schedule I
- B. Schedule II
- C. Schedule III
- D. Schedule IV
Q20. How many cheetahs were brought from Namibia and released at Kuno National Park in the first batch on 17 September 2022?
Q21. Which protected area was the first and primary release site under Project Cheetah?
- A. Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh
- B. Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh
- C. Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh
- D. Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan
Q22. According to the 2022 All India Tiger Estimation, the following States were highlighted as having witnessed a notable increase in tiger population. Which one of the following is NOT correctly identified?
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Uttarakhand
- Mizoram
- A. 4 only
- B. 1 and 2
- C. 3 only
- D. 2 and 4
Q23. As per the 5th All India Tiger Estimation (2022), what was the estimated average number of tigers in India?
- A. 3,682
- B. 3,925
- C. 2,967
- D. 2,226
Q24. In the context of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, what is a 'Critical Tiger Habitat'?
- A. The core area of a tiger reserve, established on scientific evidence as required to be kept inviolate for tiger conservation
- B. Any forest area that must permanently exclude all human presence including forest officials
- C. The buffer zone of a tiger reserve where regulated tourism and co-existence are promoted
- D. A wildlife corridor connecting two tiger reserves notified by the Forest Survey of India
Q25. Sariska Tiger Reserve is globally distinguished as the site of which first?
- A. The world's first successful reintroduction of wild tigers into a reserve where they had become locally extinct
- B. India's first notified tiger reserve under Project Tiger
- C. India's first tiger reserve to receive international CA|TS accreditation
- D. India's first tiger reserve to be declared a Critical Tiger Habitat
Q26. The 2008 reintroduction of tigers at Sariska Tiger Reserve was carried out jointly by the NTCA, the Rajasthan Forest Department and which institution that provided the scientific recovery plan?
- A. Wildlife Institute of India
- B. Zoological Survey of India
- C. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
- D. Botanical Survey of India
Q27. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), the subject of the 2026 navigation study, is accorded the highest domestic protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Which one of the following is the Union nodal ministry that administers this Act?
- A. Ministry of Earth Sciences
- B. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- D. Ministry of Science and Technology
Q28. Which wing of the Government of NCT of Delhi has issued the draft EV Policy 2.0 (2026) and is its nodal implementing authority?
- A. The Transport Department
- B. The Department of Environment
- C. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee
- D. The Department of Power
Q29. Consider the following statements about segments addressed by Delhi's draft EV Policy 2.0. Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified?
- New ICE three-wheelers — proposed to be barred from fresh registration with effect from January 1, 2027.
- New ICE two-wheelers — proposed to be barred from fresh registration with effect from April 1, 2028.
- School bus fleets — made subject to electrification targets, with compliance linked to schools' recognition and affiliation.
- New private petrol four-wheeler cars — proposed to be barred from fresh registration with effect from January 1, 2027.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 4 only
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q30. Delhi's draft EV Policy 2.0 (2026) is positioned as the revised successor to which one of the following?
- A. The Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, 2020
- B. FAME-II (2019)
- C. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, 2020
- D. The Delhi Odd-Even scheme (2016)