In India, if a species of tortoise is declared protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife…

Answer: (a) It enjoys the same level of protection as the tiger.

Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 gives a species the highest degree of protection, the same level as the tiger. Listing says nothing about the species being extinct in the wild or being confined to one region.

• ✓ (a) Tiger and other rare and endangered species are in Schedule I, which gives the highest degree of protection. A tortoise placed in the same Schedule gets that same top-level protection.
• ✗ (b) Schedule I is a legal category of protection for rare and endangered species that still live in the wild. It is not a statement that a species has disappeared from the wild or that extinction cannot be stopped.
• ✗ (c) Being endemic to one region is not the test for Schedule I. The Schedule lists rare and endangered species from many parts of the country, and the protection is the same wherever they live.
• ✗ (d) Both (b) and (c) are wrong, so (d) fails.

Remember · Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 = highest legal protection, the same tier as the tiger. It does not mean 'extinct in the wild' or 'endemic'.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error