MPSC 2021 Prelims Paper-I · Question 31 of 100

Correct — option (2), which reads (a) - (ii), (b) - (iv), (c) - (i), (d) - (iii). The four category names in Column - II — Rare, Endangered, Extinct and Vulnerable — belong to the classification of species taught in NCERT Class 10 geography, Contemporary India II, chapter 'Forest and Wildlife Resources' — and that chapter supplies the example lists this question is drawn from, name for name, down to spelling the bird 'pink head duck' as this paper does. Note for anyone checking: the rationalised 2023 printing removed that classification box, so the passage the key rests on is no longer in the current textbook and has to be read in an earlier edition. It defines an endangered species as one in danger of extinction, whose survival is difficult if the factors that reduced it continue to operate, and its examples are the black buck, the crocodile, the Indian wild ass, the Indian rhino, the lion-tailed macaque and the sangai; the Indian Rhino at (a) therefore takes Endangered at (ii). It defines a vulnerable species as one whose numbers have fallen to a level from which it is likely to enter the endangered category in the near future, and its examples are the blue sheep, the Asiatic elephant and the Gangetic dolphin; the Asiatic Elephant at (b) takes Vulnerable at (iv). It defines a rare species as one with a small population that may move into the endangered or vulnerable category if the adverse factors persist, and its examples are the Himalayan brown bear, the wild Asiatic buffalo, the desert fox and the hornbill; the Desert Fox at (c) takes Rare at (i). It defines an extinct species as one not found after searches of the areas where it might occur, and its examples are the Asiatic cheetah and the pink head duck — spelt exactly as this paper spells it; the Pink Head Duck at (d) takes Extinct at (iii). That completes the row printed at option (2).

• (1)(a) - (ii), (b) - (iv), (c) - (iii), (d) - (i) — This row keeps the Indian Rhino with Endangered and the Asiatic Elephant with Vulnerable, which are both right, and then exchanges the last two: it gives the Desert Fox to Extinct and the Pink Head Duck to Rare. Both are wrong on the textbook list, and the second is wrong in a way worth remembering. The pink head duck is one of only two examples the text gives for the extinct category, the other being the Asiatic cheetah, and it is the standard Indian example of a bird that searches of its likely range have failed to find. The desert fox, by contrast, is listed as rare, alongside the Himalayan brown bear, the wild Asiatic buffalo and the hornbill. This is the near-miss row of the question: it leaves the two pairs a candidate is most likely to check intact and reverses the two they may not.
• (3)(a) - (iv), (b) - (ii), (c) - (i), (d) - (iii) — This row gives the Indian Rhino to Vulnerable and the Asiatic Elephant to Endangered, exchanging the two mammals' categories, and then keeps the Desert Fox with Rare and the Pink Head Duck with Extinct. The swap is the most instructive thing in the question, because the exchanged pairing is what the IUCN Red List itself records: the greater one-horned or Indian rhinoceros has been listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable as of 2018, after a recovery from near extinction to about 4,075 animals, while the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered since 1986. The question, however, is set on the school text's own example lists, which place the rhino under endangered and the elephant under vulnerable, and the official key follows those lists. A candidate who knows the Red List will find this row attractive, and the lesson is to answer from the syllabus the question is drawn from.
• (4)(a) - (i), (b) - (iii), (c) - (ii), (d) - (iv) — This row assigns Rare to the Indian Rhino, Extinct to the Asiatic Elephant, Endangered to the Desert Fox and Vulnerable to the Pink Head Duck, so every pair fails and two of them fail absurdly. The Asiatic elephant is not extinct by any measure — some 48,000 to 52,000 survive in the wild across the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia — and a category that means not found after searches of its known range cannot be applied to an animal that is still counted in tens of thousands. Equally, the pink head duck cannot be merely vulnerable, since vulnerable describes a species still present in numbers that are declining. Testing a matching row against the plain meaning of the category, rather than against a memorised list, disposes of this row without any recall at all.

Species are classified by conservation status so that scarce protection effort can be directed where it matters. The school geography text on forest and wildlife resources sets out six categories and says it follows the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in doing so. Normal species are those whose numbers are at levels considered normal for their survival — cattle, sal, pine, rodents. Endangered species are in danger of extinction and will not survive if the negative factors continue: black buck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion-tailed macaque, sangai. Vulnerable species have declined to a level from which they are likely to become endangered in the near future: blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin. Rare species have small populations that may become vulnerable or endangered if the adverse factors persist: Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox, hornbill. Endemic species are confined to a particular area isolated by natural or geographical barriers: Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman wild pig, mithun. Extinct species are those not found after searches of the areas where they might occur: the Asiatic cheetah, declared extinct in India in 1952, and the pink head duck. The IUCN's own Red List runs a different and more finely graded ladder, from Least Concern through Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild and Extinct, and it is revised as new assessments are made.

Conservation status is a favourite MPSC topic because it can be tested as definition, as example or as a match of the two, and this question uses the third form. What makes it worth studying is that its answer comes from a specific source: the example lists in the standard school text, not from the current IUCN Red List. Those two authorities agree on the desert fox and the pink head duck but differ on the two large mammals, since the IUCN has listed the Asian elephant as Endangered since 1986 and moved the Indian rhinoceros to Vulnerable. A candidate who has read only the Red List will confidently choose a row that the key does not accept. The correct preparation is therefore to hold both — the textbook lists, because that is where such questions are set from, and the Red List categories, because current affairs questions are set from those. The other habit this question rewards is checking every pair in a row: the near-miss option leaves the two mammals correctly placed and reverses only the fox and the duck.

• The school geography text lists the Indian rhino among endangered species, along with the black buck, the crocodile, the Indian wild ass, the lion-tailed macaque and the sangai of Manipur.
• The same text lists the Asiatic elephant as vulnerable, together with the blue sheep and the Gangetic dolphin, a vulnerable species being one likely to become endangered if present trends continue.
• It lists the desert fox as rare, along with the Himalayan brown bear, the wild Asiatic buffalo and the hornbill; rare means a small population that may slip into the vulnerable or endangered categories.
• It gives only two examples of extinct species — the Asiatic cheetah, declared extinct in India in 1952, and the pink head duck, which the text spells exactly as this paper does.
• The IUCN Red List, by contrast, has listed the Asian elephant as Endangered since 1986 and the Indian rhinoceros as Vulnerable as of 2018, the rhino having recovered to about 4,075 animals in India and Nepal by March 2025.

• Answering from the current IUCN Red List when the question is set on the school text's example lists; the two disagree on the Indian rhino and the Asiatic elephant, and one of the wrong options is exactly the Red List reading
• Confusing rare with vulnerable — rare means a small population that may decline further, vulnerable means one already declining towards endangered status
• Treating a category as a legal status; conservation status and the schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 are separate systems and a question may name either
• Checking only the two pairs you are confident of and accepting a row that reverses the other two, which is precisely how the near-miss row here is constructed

Conservation status reaches MPSC papers in three forms. The first is this two-column match of species against category. The second is a definition item asking what an endangered or an endemic species is. The third is a current-affairs item on a species whose status has recently changed or that has been in the news, such as the cheetah reintroduction or the great Indian bustard. The examination expects both the textbook lists and the IUCN categories, and where they conflict the safest reading is that a match of this kind, printed without any reference to the Red List, is drawn from the textbook. Prepare one sheet with the six textbook categories and their examples and a second with the IUCN ladder and about twenty Indian species placed on it, and note explicitly the handful of species on which the two sources disagree.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the classification of species used in Indian school geography texts, a species whose population has declined to a level from which it is likely to move into the endangered category in the near future is called

  • (a)a rare species
  • (b)a vulnerable species
  • (c)an endemic species
  • (d)a normal species

  Answer(b) a vulnerable species — the examples given are the blue sheep, the Asiatic elephant and the Gangetic dolphin. A rare species is one with a small population that may move into the vulnerable or endangered categories if adverse factors persist, such as the Himalayan brown bear, the wild Asiatic buffalo and the desert fox; an endemic species is confined to a particular area isolated by natural barriers, such as the Andaman teal or the mithun; and a normal species is one at population levels considered normal for its survival.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is given as an example of an extinct species in the standard school text on forest and wildlife resources?

  • (a)the Gangetic dolphin
  • (b)the hornbill
  • (c)the pink head duck
  • (d)the Nicobar pigeon

  Answer(c) the pink head duck — the text names only two extinct examples, the Asiatic cheetah, declared extinct in India in 1952, and the pink head duck. The Gangetic dolphin is listed as vulnerable, the hornbill as rare, and the Nicobar pigeon as endemic, which is a category about restricted distribution rather than about the risk of disappearance.