Static Quiz 25 August 2026 (Environment & Ecology)

The Bengal Tiger is listed as Endangered, and despite India holding roughly 75% of the world's wild tiger population and a recovering headcount of about 3,682-3,925 per the 2022 Census, it remains Endangered globally rather than downlisted. The Snow Leopard is listed as Vulnerable, having been downlisted from Endangered in 2017, a frequently tested status change, with India's population estimated at about 718 individuals per SPAI 2023, and the Clouded Leopard, found across Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, is also listed as Vulnerable. Option (b) commits a classic reversal trap by swapping the tiger's and snow leopard's statuses, while options (c) and (d) introduce further status errors.

Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct, while Statement 3 gets the year wrong. Project Cheetah was launched on 17 September 2022 when eight Namibian cheetahs were released into Kuno National Park in the world's first intercontinental large carnivore translocation, and since the Asiatic Cheetah survives with fewer than 50 individuals only in Iran, making it impossible to source, the reintroduced animals were African Cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa; Kuno itself was originally prepared for Asiatic Lion relocation from Gir after a Supreme Court order that Gujarat resisted, before being repurposed for cheetahs. The last confirmed sighting of cheetahs in India was actually in 1952, when Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo shot the last three known Indian cheetahs in Surguja, Chhattisgarh, not 1947.

The Snow Leopard is associated with high-altitude alpine zones, including Hemis National Park in Ladakh, the world's largest snow leopard protected area, and Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh, while the Bengal Tiger is tied to the Sundarbans, home to unique mangrove-dwelling, swimming tigers, and Ranthambore's dry deciduous landscape in Rajasthan. The Indian Leopard, the most adaptable big cat in India, is widespread across forests, scrublands, grasslands, and human-dominated landscapes, holding the widest distribution of all Indian big cats, while the Clouded Leopard inhabits the dense tropical forests of Northeast India, with Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh as a key stronghold.

The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India, India's first systematic national count, estimated approximately 718 snow leopards in 2023, making India the second-largest snow leopard range country after China. Option (a) is incorrect since India's national animal is actually the Bengal Tiger, with the Snow Leopard instead serving as the state animal of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim, and option (c) understates its range, since Snow Leopards are found across Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. Option (d) reverses the actual anatomy, since the Snow Leopard's tail is remarkably long, equal to or longer than its body, used for balance on rocky terrain and as a wrap-around covering in cold.

The correct descending order is Indian Leopard, Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, then Asiatic Lion. The Indian Leopard leads with roughly 12,000-14,000 individuals per WII 2022, followed by the Bengal Tiger at about 3,682-3,925 per the 2022 Tiger Census, the Snow Leopard at about 718 per SPAI 2023, and the Asiatic Lion at about 674 per the 2020 Gir Census. Options placing the Asiatic Lion above the Snow Leopard confuse the two closest figures, a precise numerical trap worth watching for since the two populations differ by fewer than 50 individuals.