Biodiversity, plants & animals

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct: an elephant herd is led by the oldest female (the matriarch), and gestation lasts about 22 months. Statement 3 is wrong because females keep reproducing until their 60s, and statement 4 is wrong because Karnataka, not Kerala, has India's largest elephant population.

• ✓ 1. An elephant herd is led by its oldest female, the matriarch, and consists of her calves and grand-calves; young bulls leave at puberty.
• ✓ 2. MoEFCC puts the gestation period of elephants at about 22 months, so 22 months is the maximum.
• ✗ 3. Female elephants begin reproducing at about 15 years of age and continue until they are in their 60s, so a cut-off at 40 years is not the norm. UPSC's key treats this statement as wrong.
• ✗ 4. Among Indian States, Karnataka has the largest elephant population in the 2017 synchronized census (6,049, against 5,706 for Kerala and 5,719 for Assam, per MoEFCC's Project Elephant table); Kerala is not the leader.

Remember · Elephants: matriarch-led herds; gestation about 22 months; females reproduce till their 60s; Karnataka has the most elephants among Indian States.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Birds

All four are birds: a nocturnal frogmouth, a barbet (a small fruit-eating bird), a minivet (a small insect-eating songbird) and a redstart (a chat-like songbird).

• ✓ (a) The Ceylon frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger) is a Western Ghats bird, the coppersmith barbet is listed among the birds of Keoladeo, the White-throated redstart (Phoenicurus schisticeps) is a Himalayan bird, and the Gray-chinned minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) is a forest bird of the eastern Himalaya.
• ✗ (d) The word 'frogmouth' misleads: it names the wide, frog-like beak of this night bird, not a frog. None of the four is an amphibian, reptile or primate.

Remember · Frogmouths, barbets, minivets and redstarts are all birds; a bird's common name can mislead, so check the scientific name (Batrachostomus is a bird genus).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh) is the home of the hard-ground barasingha, Rucervus duvaucelii branderi, the swamp-deer sub-species that lives on firm ground and feeds only on grass. It is Madhya Pradesh's State animal.

• ✓ (a) The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department calls the hard-ground barasingha the State animal and says it is found exclusively in Kanha; until recently Kanha held the only world population of this sub-species.
• ✗ (b) Manas (Assam) also shelters swamp deer, so it tempts, but it is known for the rhino, tiger, pygmy hog and Bengal florican; the hard-ground form is Kanha's.
• ✗ (c) Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu, Nilgiris) is known for elephant, gaur and tiger; its official fauna list has no swamp deer.
• ✗ (d) Tal Chhapar (Churu, Rajasthan) is known as a haven for blackbuck and birds, not for barasingha.

Remember · Hard-ground barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi) is Kanha's flagship deer and Madhya Pradesh's State animal.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) is a high-Himalayan animal, so the Uttarakhand mountain areas, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and Gangotri National Park, are its likely homes, not the plains and foothill areas of Kishanpur and Manas.

• ✓ 1. Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, is listed as a home of musk deer, alongside snow leopard, bharal and tahr.
• ✓ 2. The Wildlife Institute of India lists Musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) among the mammals documented in Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand.
• ✗ 3. Kishanpur is a lowland sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh, part of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve on the Gangetic alluvial plain; its deer are swamp deer, hog deer, spotted deer and the like, not musk deer.
• ✗ 4. Manas (Assam) is known for tiger, greater one-horned rhino, swamp deer, pygmy hog and Bengal florican; musk deer is not among its species.

Remember · Musk deer lives in high, cold Himalayan forests (Uttarakhand, Kashmir, Sikkim); look for Askot and Gangotri, not the Terai or Assam plains.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) A licence is required to cultivate that plant.

A plant placed in Schedule VI, the list of 'specified plants', can be cultivated only with a licence. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 does not ban its cultivation outright, and the listing has nothing to do with genetic modification or invasiveness.

• ✓ (a) Section 17C says no person shall cultivate a specified plant except under a licence granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or an officer authorised by the State Government.
• ✗ (b) Cultivation is allowed, but only with that licence; the Act regulates it rather than forbidding it in all circumstances.
• ✗ (c) Schedule VI is a conservation list of protected wild plants; it says nothing about genetic modification.
• ✗ (d) Plants are listed to protect them, not because they are invasive or harmful to the ecosystem.
• • Since then The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 (in force from 1 April 2023) cut the schedules to four; 'specified plant' now means a plant in Schedule III instead of Schedule VI, and the licence rule of Section 17C continues.

Remember · Schedule VI plants (now Schedule III) are 'specified plants': cultivation needs a licence from the Chief Wild Life Warden, and picking or uprooting them in forests is prohibited.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Desert National Park in Rajasthan lies in two districts, Jaisalmer and Barmer, and shelters the Great Indian Bustard, but it is not free of people. Dozens of villages and hamlets exist inside its boundary, so statement 2 fails.

• ✓ 1. The Park covers 3,162 sq km, of which 1,900 sq km is in Jaisalmer district and 1,262 sq km in Barmer district of Rajasthan.
• ✗ 2. People live inside the Park. The official nomination lists 73 villages and other settlements (dhanis) within it, though the population density is low, about 4-5 persons per sq km.
• ✓ 3. The Park has a good population of the Great Indian Bustard, called Godawan locally, and it is one of the bird's natural habitats.

Remember · Desert National Park (Rajasthan, gazetted 1980): Jaisalmer and Barmer districts, villages inside it, and a stronghold of the Great Indian Bustard.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam

Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam has the largest Critical Tiger Habitat of the four, at 2,595.72 sq km. The other three are far smaller: Sunderban 1,699.62, Ranthambore 1,113.36 and Corbett 821.99 sq km.

• ✓ (c) The National Tiger Conservation Authority lists a core area of 2,595.72 sq km for Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam; the core is the notified Critical Tiger Habitat. It is the largest core area among India's tiger reserves.
• ✗ (d) Sunderban has a core of 1,699.62 sq km. Its total area (2,584.89 sq km) is close to the winner's core figure, which makes it a tempting choice, but the question asks about the critical habitat only.
• ✗ (a) Corbett is the oldest tiger reserve in the group but its core is only 821.99 sq km.
• ✗ (b) Ranthambore has a core of 1,113.36 sq km.

Remember · A tiger reserve = core or Critical Tiger Habitat (inviolate) + buffer. Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam has the largest core, 2,595.72 sq km.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error