SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · General Awareness · Question 8 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

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Regarding the legal protection of Dugong (Sea Cow) in India, consider the following statements: Statement 1: The Dugong is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Statement 2: This classification provides the Dugong with the highest level of legal protection, similar to that of the Tiger. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a)Both Statement 1 and Statement 2
(b)Only Statement 2
(c)Only Statement 1
(d)Neither Statement 1 nor Statement 2

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Statement 1 holds. The Dugong (Dugong dugon) is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. In the schedules rewritten by the 2022 amendment it sits in Part A (Mammals), the same list as the Tiger.

Statement 2 holds. Schedule I is the Act's highest tier of protection, so the Dugong is protected on par with the Tiger. Both → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Only Statement 2 — Statement 1 is also true. The Dugong/Sea Cow is named in Schedule I, Part A (Mammals), of the Act as amended in 2022.
(c)
Only Statement 1 — Statement 2 is also true. Schedule I is the Act's top protection tier, and the Tiger is listed in the same Part A, so the comparison holds.
(d)
Neither Statement 1 nor Statement 2 — Both statements are true to the Act: the Dugong is a Schedule I mammal, and Schedule I carries the strongest protection the Act gives.

Concept

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 protects species by listing them in schedules, and the schedule decides how strict the protection is.

The 2022 amendment replaced the Act's six original schedules with a new set. Schedule I remains the highest-protection list.

Its Part A (Mammals) includes the Tiger, the Asiatic Elephant, the Gangetic dolphin and the Dugong/Sea Cow.

Statement 2's comparison works because the Tiger and the Dugong sit in the same schedule and the same part: Schedule I, Part A. Protection under the Act follows the listing, not how famous the animal is.

Key facts

The Dugong is in Schedule I, Part A (Mammals), of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2022.
The IUCN Red List classes the dugong as Vulnerable.
The dugong grazes on seagrass and is the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal.
In India, dugongs live in the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait, and around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Study next

Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act after the 2022 amendmentMarine protected areas of the Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of KutchIUCN Red List categories

Common traps

Doubting Statement 2 because a sea cow seems less iconic than the Tiger. The schedule, not the animal's fame, sets the protection.
Carrying the old six-schedule layout into post-2022 questions. The amendment rewrote the schedules.

9 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.1 asks when Project Tiger was launched (1973), and 25 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.20 asks which Article directs the State to safeguard forests and wildlife (Article 48-A). 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.7 asks where the Gulf of Mannar lies.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: General Policy — all 225 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.