Match the following :
Column - I
(Species)
(a) Indian Rhino
(b) Asiatic Elephant
(c) Desert Fox
(d) Pink Head Duck
Column - II
(Type)
(i) Rare
(ii) Endangered
(iii) Extinct
(iv) Vulnerable

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 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.  (c) 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.  (d) 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.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2021 Q31 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q31 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer