Protected areas & conservation

Answer: (a) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve

Sathyamangalam, in the Erode region of western Tamil Nadu, sits where the Western Ghats meet the Eastern Ghats. Its forests form a corridor that lets tigers, elephants and other wildlife move between the two hill systems; it became a tiger reserve in 2013.

• ✓ (a) The reserve's own management describes it as the vital corridor linking the Western and Eastern Ghats, which keeps wildlife populations of the two ranges connected.
• ✗ (c) Nagarhole in Karnataka is a Western Ghats park; it does not reach the Eastern Ghats.
• ✗ (d) Seshachalam, around Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, is an Eastern Ghats biosphere reserve with no link to the Western Ghats.

Remember · Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu, 2013) is the junction and wildlife corridor between the Western and Eastern Ghats, within the Nilgiri landscape.

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: (b) Chambal River

The Chambal River is the best place to see gharials in the wild. A 600 km stretch of it is the National Chambal Sanctuary, set up in 1978 mainly to protect the gharial, and it has the world's largest population of the species.

• ✓ (b) The National Chambal Sanctuary, on the Chambal, was created in 1978 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 for the conservation and management of the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).
• ✗ (a) Bhitarkanika is a coastal mangrove area of Odisha, not a river stretch protected for gharials.
• ✗ (c) Pulicat is a brackish-water lagoon shared by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, better known as a bird-watching site than for gharials.

Remember · Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus): the National Chambal Sanctuary, a 600 km stretch of the Chambal River protected since 1978, has the world's largest wild population.

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: (b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves

M-STrIPES is the Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status, a technology platform of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It is used to assist patrolling, assess ecological status and reduce human-wildlife conflict in and around tiger reserves.

• ✓ (b) NTCA describes it as a platform that helps manage tiger reserves through effective patrolling, ecological assessment and conflict mitigation. That is the maintenance of Tiger Reserves.
• ✗ (a) M-STrIPES monitors tigers in their reserves. It is not a captive-breeding programme.
• ✗ (c) India's indigenous satellite navigation system is the ISRO-run Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), also called NavIC.
• ✗ (d) It has nothing to do with highway security; it works in and around tiger reserves.

Remember · M-STrIPES = Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status, NTCA's technology platform for patrolling and monitoring in tiger reserves.

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: (b) Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary

The proposal was to give the Asiatic lion a second home at Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Every wild Asiatic lion lives in Gujarat, so one epidemic or disaster could wipe out the subspecies, and Kuno was chosen as the best alternative site.

• ✓ (b) Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Madhya Pradesh was picked as the best site for a second lion population. In April 2013 the Supreme Court directed that the lions be re-introduced there.
• ✗ (a) Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is a tiger reserve. The lion proposal named Kuno, not Corbett.
• ✗ (d) Sariska in Rajasthan is a tiger reserve. It was not the site proposed for the lions.
• ✗ (c) Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu is a tiger reserve in the south. It was not the site proposed for the lions.

Remember · The second home planned for Gir's Asiatic lions is Kuno (Palpur-Kuno) Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh.

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