Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
In a recent case of man-animal conflict, four people were injured in a bear attack while collecting tendu leaves in the Kawardha range of Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary. Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kawardha district of Chhattisgarh and is part of the Maikal range in the Satpura hills. It is named after the nearby Bhoramdeo Temple, which is over a thousand years old and called the “Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh.” The sanctuary spans about 352 square kilometres and lies within the Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor connecting two major protected areas. Its landscape includes hilly terrain, dense forests, and many streams. The Fen and Sankari rivers originate here. The forest types include tropical moist and dry deciduous forests with trees like Saaj, Sal, Tendu, and Nilgiri.

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Gujarat has completed its 16th lion population census, with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announcing 891 lions. This increase shows Gujarat’s success in wildlife conservation, especially through Project Lion. Project Lion focuses on habitat management, wildlife health monitoring, and community involvement to support lion growth. Preliminary data show 196 adult male lions, with the rest being females, cubs, and sub-adults. Lions, once mostly in Gir National Park, are now spreading to new areas, showing better habitat connectivity. The Asiatic lion is listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, recently upgraded from Endangered.

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Keoladeo National Park, also called Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, is located in Rajasthan. It was established as a hunting reserve in the 19th century by Maharaja Suraj Mal and became a bird sanctuary in 1956. It was declared a national park in 1981 and named after a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva inside the park. The park spreads across 29 square kilometres and includes woodlands, swamps, and wet grasslands. It is a Ramsar site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its rich biodiversity. Recently, the park is also becoming a safe home for turtles, sheltering eight out of ten species found in Rajasthan.

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Recently, scientists discovered a new frog species named Amolops shillong, or the Shillong Cascade Frog, right inside the city limits of Shillong, Meghalaya. This frog lives in fast-flowing streams hidden within Shillong’s urban forest areas. It belongs to a group of stream frogs that look very similar and are hard to identify. Genetic studies confirmed that Amolops shillong is part of the Amolops indoburmanensis complex and is closely related to Amolops siju, which was found in Siju Cave by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in 2023.

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The Valley of Flowers recently reopened to tourists for this year. The Valley of Flowers National Park is located in the Uttarakhand. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, along with Nanda Devi National Park. It was discovered in 1931 by British mountaineer Frank S. Smythe and his team. It is famous for its rich flora like orchids, poppies, daisies, and medicinal herbs.

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Recently, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) discovered how lac insects produce laccaic acid, which is used to make lac pigment. Lac insects are hemimetabolous and undergo gradual metamorphosis with stages like egg, nymph instars, pupa, and adult. They are found in Southeast Asian countries like India, Thailand, Myanmar, and China, with India and Thailand being top producers. More than 90% of India’s lac comes from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Eastern Maharashtra, and Northern Odisha.

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Scientists have discovered 24-million-year-old fossilized Nothopegia leaves in Assam’s Makum Coalfield, revealing new insights into South Asia’s ancient biodiversity. The discovery was made by researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). These fossils from the late Oligocene epoch are the world’s oldest known record of the Nothopegia genus. Today, Nothopegia is found only in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and major biodiversity hotspot, far from Assam.

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Recently, a plan was prepared to adjust the boundary of the Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) of Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan to possibly reopen over 50 marble and dolomite mines closed by a Supreme Court order in 2023 due to their closeness to the protected area. Sariska Tiger Reserve is located in Rajasthan and lies within the Aravalli mountain range, which is the world’s oldest. The reserve is known for heritage sites like Pandu Pol, Bhangarh Fort, Ajabgarh, Pratapgarh, Siliserh Lake, and Jai Samand Lake.

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A rare albino “sunflower” squirrel was recently spotted in Tonk district, Rajasthan, creating excitement among wildlife lovers and researchers. It was seen at the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) campus in Tonk-Deoli, living in a neem tree. Albino squirrels are extremely rare, occurring in about one in 100,000 cases. Although such squirrels have been seen before in Banswara and Dungarpur, they remain very uncommon. Experts say albino traits are genetic, and the offspring may not inherit the condition.

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The endangered white-eared night heron was recently camera-trapped in Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. Namdapha is a national park and tiger reserve on the India–Myanmar border in Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh. It lies at the meeting point of the Indian subcontinent and Indo-China biogeographic regions. The Namdapha River, a tributary of Noa-Dihing River, flows north to south across it.