Sanctuary/Biosphere Reserve (Part-IV)

The correct matching belongs to option (b).

Simlipal National Park is located in Odisha, not in Madhya Pradesh. Rest are correctly matched.

Namdapha National Park, situated in Arunachal Pradesh, has Ans. (d) a climate that varies from tropical to subtropical, temperature and arctic.

The term 'M-STrIPES stands for Monitoring System for Tigers- Intensive Protection and Ecological Status is sometimes seen in the news in the context of maintenance of Tiger Reserves. There are two main components of this mechanism -

1. Field-based protocol for patrolling, law enforcement, recording wildlife crimes and ecological monitoring.

2. A customized software for storage, retrieval, analysis and reporting. On proper implementation, it ensures quick response in the perilous conditions like tiger hunting or habitat destruction. It uses a system based on Geographical Information System (GIS).

Dampa Tiger Reserve, the largest wildlife sanctuary in Mizoram was notified in 1985 and declared Tiger Reserve in 1994. Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Tripura. Saramati is a peak rising above the surrounding peaks at the mountainous border of Nagaland State, India and the Sagaing region of Burma. Hence 1 and 3 are correctly matched.

Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in 1992 as a centrally sponsored scheme with the aim to protect elephants, their habitat, to address issues of man- animal conflict and welfare of captive elephants. Under this project, financial and technical support is being provided to major elephant bearing States in the country. Synchronized Elephant population in India is estimated at 29964 as per the census conducted in 2017.

An elephant is placed in the order Proboscidea, the natural group of animals with a proboscis or trunk as their distinct physical feature. The zoological name of African elephant is Loxodonta africana and that of Asian or Indian elephant is Elephas maximus. Generally, the leader of an elephant group is a female. The gestation period of an elephant is about 18-22 months. Elephants have the longest gestation period of all mammals. Most of the female elephants give birth for the first time between 16 and 17 years, and they can calve until the age of 60 or more. According to the elephant census 2017, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054).

Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is located on the meeting site of the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats. Apart from tiger, elephant, hyena, leopard etc are also found in this tiger reserve. This is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. Nallamala forest is located in Andhra Pradesh. Nagarhole National park is located in Karnataka. Sechachalam Biosphere Reserve is the first biosphere reserve of Andhra Pradesh.

The 40th World Heritage Committee at Istanbul, Turkey on the 17th of July, 2016 inscribed Khangchendzonga National Park of Sikkim as a UNESCO's World Heritage Site on 'Mixed' criteria recognizing the outstanding universal values for its both natural and cultural significance. This status was also conferred on Nalanda Mahavihar of Bihar and Capital Complex of Chandigarh.

The garden of five seasons is located near Mehrauli. The Garden was inaugurated in February, 2003. It spans over 20 acres of land.