{"id":794,"date":"2023-06-14T15:12:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T09:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=794"},"modified":"2024-04-03T07:01:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T01:31:26","slug":"q-consider-the-following-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/q-consider-the-following-3","title":{"rendered":"Q. Consider the following:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>Star tortoise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monitor lizard<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pygmy hog<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spider monkey<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which of the above are&nbsp;<strong>naturally found<\/strong>&nbsp;in India?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"mcq wp-block-list\">\n<li>1, 2 and 3 only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 and 3 only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 and 4 only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1, 2, 3 and 4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3 only<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Star tortoise<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/indian-star-tortoise-upsc\/\">Indian Star Tortoise<\/a>&nbsp;(Geochelone elegans) is a threatened tortoise species native to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka where<strong>&nbsp;it inhabits&nbsp;<mark>dry areas and scrub forest<\/mark>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;It is&nbsp;<strong>kept as pets<\/strong>, across homes in South East Asia, Europe and North America.&nbsp;<strong>Indian Star Tortoises are smuggled to countries like Japan and China as it is believed to bring good luck if it is kept as pets at home<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is also perceived to have medicinal values.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Habitat:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Indian star tortoise<\/strong>&nbsp;is found across the&nbsp;<strong>Indian sub-continent,<\/strong>&nbsp;more specifically, in the&nbsp;<mark><strong>Central and Southern parts of India,<\/strong>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<strong>West Pakistan<\/strong>&nbsp;and in<strong>&nbsp;Sri Lanka.<\/strong><\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In India, they are found in the states of Odisha, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protection Status:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Wild Life Protection Act 1972:&nbsp;<mark>Schedule IV<\/mark><\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Schedule IV:<\/strong>&nbsp;This list is for&nbsp;<strong>species that are not endangered.<\/strong>&nbsp;It includes&nbsp;<strong>protected species but the penalty for any violation is less<\/strong>&nbsp;compared to the Schedules I and II.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)<\/strong>:&nbsp;<strong><mark>Appendix I<\/mark><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IUCN Status:<\/strong>&nbsp;<mark><strong>Vulnerable<\/strong><\/mark><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Threat:<\/strong>&nbsp;The species faces two threats-<strong>&nbsp;loss of habitat to agriculture<\/strong>&nbsp;and illegal harvesting for the<strong>&nbsp;pet trade.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Due to the extremely high demand for Indian star tortoises, they continue to be smuggled from India to South-East Asian countries for a long time, despite many measures being taken by Customs Authorities of India and international regulations to stop the smuggling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the&nbsp;<strong>Wildlife Crime Control Bureau<\/strong>, 90% of the trade of Star Tortoise occurs as part of the International pet market.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If their exploitation had continued at a similar pace or had expanded, a decline of greater than 30% was predicted by 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conservation Efforts:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently India\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>proposal to upgrade the protection status<\/strong>&nbsp;of Star Tortoise from&nbsp;<strong>Appendix II to Appendix I<\/strong>&nbsp;was approved by the&nbsp;<strong>Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Characteristics:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Indian star tortoise has&nbsp;<strong>medium-sized head, hooked beak, and short, thick legs<\/strong>&nbsp;covered with tubercles of various sizes and shapes.&nbsp;<strong>Males have a long tail, while females have short and stubby tails.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Indian star tortoise is a&nbsp;<strong>diurnal animal&nbsp;<\/strong>that is mostly active in the morning and late in the afternoon.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Behaviour and Temperament:<\/strong>&nbsp;Indian star tortoises do not like being handled. They can get stressed out and get ill if handled frequently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Food Habits:<\/strong>&nbsp;Star tortoises are&nbsp;<strong>herbivores<\/strong>. They need plenty of fresh and dark leafy greens and grasses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Indian-star-tortoise-1024x683.webp\" alt=\"Star Tortoise\" class=\"wp-image-28698\" width=\"705\" height=\"470\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Monitor lizard<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The scientific name of Bengal Monitor or Common Indian Monitor is&nbsp;<strong>Varanus bengalensis<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They are&nbsp;<strong>native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania<\/strong>, and one species is also found&nbsp;<strong>in the Americas as an invasive species.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The reptile is found in<strong>&nbsp;Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and&nbsp;Sri Lanka<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Bengal Monitor Lizard is a part of&nbsp;<strong>CITES Appendix I<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The species is hunted for medicinal purposes and also for consumption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Monitor-lizard--868x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Monitor lizard\n\" class=\"wp-image-39924\" width=\"593\" height=\"699\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Pygmy hog<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The scientific name of Pygmy Hog is&nbsp;<strong>Porcula salvania<\/strong>&nbsp;and is a&nbsp;<strong>mammal<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List and is also listed in&nbsp;<strong>Schedule I&nbsp;of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It thrives in&nbsp;<strong>wet grassland.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Since it is the sole member of its genus, its conservation becomes even more important and is thus protected&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<strong>Manas National Park of Assam<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is&nbsp;<strong>also an indicator species.<\/strong>&nbsp;Its presence reflects the health of its primary habitat, the tall, wet grasslands of the region.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP):<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The PHCP is a&nbsp;<strong>collaboration<\/strong>&nbsp;among&nbsp;<strong>Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust of UK, Assam Forest Department,<\/strong>&nbsp;Wild Pig Specialist Group of<strong>&nbsp;International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is currently being&nbsp;<strong>implemented by NGOs \u2013 Aaranyak and EcoSystems India.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conservation of pygmy hog was initiated by noted naturalist&nbsp;<strong>Gerald Durrell and his trust in 1971.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The pygmy hog was brought back from near-extinction by the partnership effort, and now moving towards the establishment of a population across the entire range.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Six hogs were captured from the&nbsp;<strong>Bansbari range<\/strong>&nbsp;of the Manas National Park in 1996 for starting the breeding programme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The reintroduction programme began in 2008 with the&nbsp;<strong>Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary,<\/strong>&nbsp;all of them are in Assam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By 2025, the PHCP plans to release 60 pygmy hogs in Manas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Pygmy-Hog-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Pygmy Hog\" class=\"wp-image-39925\" width=\"641\" height=\"480\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Spider monkey<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The&nbsp;<strong>primate<\/strong>&nbsp;belongs to the genus&nbsp;<strong>Ateles<\/strong>&nbsp;and is found in the&nbsp;<strong>tropical forests of Central and South America<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The genus Ateles includes&nbsp;<strong>seven species<\/strong>&nbsp;out of which one is vulnerable, five are endangered and one (<strong>brown spider monkey<\/strong>) is critically endangered as per the&nbsp;<strong>IUCN Red List<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Spider-monkey--892x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Spider monkey\n\" class=\"wp-image-39926\" width=\"596\" height=\"684\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-_7ce83e-56 .kt-block-spacer{height:40px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-_7ce83e-56 .kt-divider{border-top-width:2px;border-top-color:#eee;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-_7ce83e-56\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which of the above are&nbsp;naturally found&nbsp;in India? Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3 only Star tortoise Monitor lizard Pygmy hog Spider monkey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[36],"years":[60],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc","category-prelims","tag-environment","years-60"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"UPSC"},{"value":3,"label":"Prelims"}],"post_tag":[{"value":36,"label":"Environment"}],"years":[{"value":60,"label":"2013"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"LotusArise","author_link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/author\/team-lotusarise"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"UPSC","slug":"upsc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1269,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":1269,"category_description":"","cat_name":"UPSC","category_nicename":"upsc","category_parent":0},{"term_id":3,"name":"Prelims","slug":"prelims","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":1251,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":1251,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Prelims","category_nicename":"prelims","category_parent":1}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":36,"name":"Environment","slug":"environment","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":36,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":193,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":805,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/years?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}