In which state of India is the Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary located?

Correct — D. The Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary is in Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh, on the Naugarh and Vijaigarh hills of the Vindhyan range, close to Varanasi.

It takes its name from the Chandraprabha river, which drops through the sanctuary as the Rajdari and Devdari waterfalls.

Established in 1957, it covers about 78 sq km, and it is best known for an experiment: Asiatic lions brought from Gir were released here in 1958. The state is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Bihar — Bihar's flagship protected area is the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in West Champaran, on the Nepal border. Chandauli lies west of it, inside Uttar Pradesh.
• (b)
  Gujarat — Gujarat is where the Asiatic lion actually survives, at Gir. Chandra Prabha borrowed its lions from Gir in 1958, and that borrowed association is why the sanctuary is so often misfiled in Gujarat.
• (c)
  Madhya Pradesh — Madhya Pradesh holds Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench in the same Vindhyan and Satpura hill country, so a hill sanctuary reads as Madhya Pradesh by reflex. The Naugarh and Vijaigarh hills, however, are in Uttar Pradesh.

A wildlife sanctuary is notified by a state government to protect species, and unlike a national park it can allow certain regulated human uses.

Chandra Prabha is a small Vindhyan sanctuary in eastern Uttar Pradesh whose fame is disproportionate to its size, because it was the site of India's first attempt to establish a second home for the Asiatic lion.

Lions released there in 1958 grew from three to about eleven by 1969, and then vanished the following year.

Key facts

• Chandra Prabha Wildlife Sanctuary is in Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh, and was established in 1957.
• Asiatic lions from Gir were released here in 1958, and the population grew from three to about eleven by 1969 before disappearing the next year.
• The Rajdari and Devdari waterfalls lie inside the sanctuary, on the Chandraprabha river.
• The sanctuary covers about 78 sq km on the Naugarh and Vijaigarh hills of the Vindhyan range.

Common traps

• The Vindhyan hill setting pulls answers towards Madhya Pradesh, but the hills here are in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• The Gir lion connection pulls answers towards Gujarat, and it is a connection of history, not of location.
• Chandra Prabha is a sanctuary, not a national park or a tiger reserve, and SSC sometimes tests that distinction directly.

No directly related past PYQ was found.