Tiger Reserves & Project Tiger — Set 18

Correct Answer: B. National Tiger Conservation Authority

NTCA stands for National Tiger Conservation Authority. It was established in 2005 following the Tiger Task Force recommendations and given statutory powers by the 2006 amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act. NTCA is chaired by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Correct Answer: A. Dampa

Dampa Tiger Reserve is located in the Mamit district of Mizoram, making it the only tiger reserve in that state. It is one of the least-studied tiger reserves in India due to its remote location near the Bangladesh border. Dampa is part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.

Correct Answer: B. Ken River and Betwa River

The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project connects the Ken River (flowing through Panna Tiger Reserve in MP) to the Betwa River. The project involves building a dam at Daudhan that would submerge about 10% of Panna Tiger Reserve's core area. It has been criticised by conservationists for its potential impact on tigers and the critically endangered gharial.

Correct Answer: C. 2017

India formulated the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP) in 2017 with support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and KfW (German Development Bank). It focuses on strengthening tiger habitats and corridors in the northeastern states. The programme addresses both core area protection and landscape connectivity.

Correct Answer: C. Nagaland

Intanki Tiger Reserve (also called Ntangki) is located in the Peren district of Nagaland. It is the only tiger reserve in Nagaland. The reserve is part of the broader Nagaland-Myanmar tiger landscape and faces challenges from hunting pressure and habitat loss.

Correct Answer: B. Introducing tigers from healthy populations to improve genetic diversity

Genetic rescue involves introducing individuals from genetically healthy, large tiger populations into small, isolated, and inbred populations. This increases genetic diversity and reduces the negative effects of inbreeding like reduced fertility and disease resistance. In India, tigers translocated into Sariska and Panna from healthy reserves served as genetic rescue.

Correct Answer: B. Machali (T16)

Machali (officially T16) from Ranthambore was the most famous tigress used as the face of tiger conservation campaigns in India. She was photographed by millions of tourists and featured in documentaries worldwide. Her story highlighted the power of tiger-based wildlife tourism in generating conservation funds and public support.

Correct Answer: B. Daily forest guard patrols recorded on mobile app with GPS tracking

M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) involves daily forest guard patrols recorded on a mobile application with GPS tracking. The app records patrol routes, wildlife sightings, signs of poaching, and habitat conditions. Data is synced to a central server for management analysis by NTCA.

Correct Answer: B. Ranthambore

Ranthambore Tiger Reserve is known for having a population of mugger crocodiles in its lakes along with tigers. The three lakes — Padam Talao, Malik Talao, and Raj Bagh Talao — support both tigers and crocodiles. Ranthambore is one of the few places where you can spot both species in the same body of water.

Correct Answer: B. Over 32,000 camera stations were used, creating the world's largest camera trap network

The 2022 All India Tiger Estimation used over 32,000 camera trap stations deployed across tiger habitats — the largest camera trap network ever deployed for wildlife monitoring in the world. This massive effort detected over 6,000 individual tigers and leopards. The 3,167 tiger count emerged from this unprecedented survey effort.