Environmental laws, bodies & conventions

Answer: (b) 2 only

TRAFFIC is a non-governmental wildlife trade monitoring network founded by IUCN and WWF, not a UN body. Its whole purpose is to keep the trade in wild species from harming their survival, so only statement 2 is right.

• ✗ 1. TRAFFIC was set up in 1976 by IUCN and WWF, which remain its founders and partners. It describes itself as a non-governmental organisation and has no place in the UNEP structure.
• ✓ 2. TRAFFIC's own 2017 website stated this as its mission, word for word. It now phrases the same aim as keeping trade in wild species legal and sustainable.

Remember · TRAFFIC = NGO wildlife-trade monitoring network, founded 1976 by IUCN and WWF; works closely with CITES but is not a UN or UNEP body.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which gives the highest protection. Hunting them is banned except in the two cases the Act itself allows: a Chief Wild Life Warden's order under Section 11, or a special permit under Section 12.

• ✓ 1. The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a crocodilian listed in Schedule I, Part C (Reptiles).
• ✓ 2. The Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus) is listed in Schedule I, Part A (Mammals), under wild asses.
• ✓ 3. The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is listed in Schedule I, Part A (Mammals), under wild cattle.
• • Since then The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 cut the schedules from six to four and rewrote Section 9 to ban hunting of Schedule I and II animals. All three animals remain in Schedule I, so the answer is unchanged.

Remember · Schedule I species get absolute protection: hunting is allowed only under Section 11 (animal dangerous or beyond recovery) or Section 12 (special permits, such as research). Gharial, wild buffalo and wild ass are all Schedule I.

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). Permalink · Report an error

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). Permalink · Report an error