Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other as Reason (R): Assertion (A) – 12 Cheetahs arrived from South Africa to India in February, 2023. Reason (R) – Restoring Cheetah population is considered to be a priority for India. Select the correct answer using the code given below –
- (a)Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not correct explanation of (A)
- (b)Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is correct explanation of (A)
- (c)(A) is false but (R) is true
- (d)(A) is true but (R) is false
Correct — B. The Assertion is true: on 18 February 2023, 12 cheetahs were flown in from South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh (the second batch, after 8 cheetahs from Namibia in September 2022). The Reason is also true: restoring the cheetah — which went extinct in India in 1952 — is a stated conservation priority under 'Project Cheetah'. And the Reason correctly explains the Assertion, because those 12 cheetahs were brought precisely to rebuild the species' population in India. So both are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
- (a)Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not correct explanation of (A) — R does explain A — the cheetahs were imported precisely to restore the cheetah population, so R is the correct explanation, not an unrelated true statement.
- (c)(A) is false but (R) is true — The Assertion is true — 12 cheetahs did arrive from South Africa in February 2023 — so calling A false is wrong.
- (d)(A) is true but (R) is false — The Reason is true — restoring the cheetah population is an explicit priority for India under Project Cheetah — so R is not false.
Project Cheetah is India's programme to reintroduce the cheetah, the only large mammal declared extinct in independent India (1952). It is the world's first intercontinental translocation of a large wild carnivore. Eight cheetahs came from Namibia on 17 September 2022 and twelve from South Africa in February 2023, all released into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
In an Assertion–Reason question you must check three things: is A true, is R true, and does R explain A. Here all three hold — the import happened, restoration is a priority, and the import was done for that restoration — which pins the answer to option (b).
- 12 cheetahs arrived from South Africa in February 2023 (batch two of Project Cheetah).
- 8 cheetahs had earlier come from Namibia on 17 September 2022.
- All were released into Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
- The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 — the only large mammal to go extinct in independent India.
- Mixing up the two batches — 8 from Namibia (Sep 2022) vs 12 from South Africa (Feb 2023)
- In A–R questions, marking 'R not the correct explanation' when R does in fact explain A
UPSC/UPPSC ask this as Assertion–Reason or current-affairs fact — the numbers/dates of arrivals, the source country, and Kuno National Park as the release site.
Consider the following : 1. Black-necked crane 2. Cheetah 3. Flying squirrel 4. Snow leopard Which of the above are naturally found in India?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (b) 1, 3 and 4 only
- (c) 2 and 4 only
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
Same species — the cheetah is excluded here because it had gone extinct in India, which is exactly why it is now being reintroduced under Project Cheetah.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under Project Cheetah, the cheetahs brought to India have been released in which national park?
- (a)Kanha National Park
- (b)Kuno National Park
- (c)Bandhavgarh National Park
- (d)Gir National Park
Answer(b) Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh — the site chosen for the cheetah reintroduction.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In which year was the cheetah officially declared extinct in India?
- (a)1947
- (b)1952
- (c)1972
- (d)1991
Answer(b) 1952 — the cheetah is the only large mammal declared extinct in independent India.