19 Topics.
0 of 40 Concepts Done
What to Study: Which four categories make up India's protected area network, and which one is the most numerous? Know roughly what share of India's land the network covers. The counts and the area share change every year, so study the current figures. Why are tiger, elephant and biosphere reserves not separate protected area categories?
What to Study: How can one landscape carry several labels at once? Understand how a national park can sit inside a tiger reserve, and a tiger reserve inside a biosphere reserve, with Ramsar or World Heritage status added on top. Remember examples such as Sundarbans, Manas, Kaziranga, Keoladeo and Similipal. Is a park inside a tiger reserve still notified separately?
What to Study: Which national parks are the largest and the smallest by area, and in which states or Union Territories do they lie? Remember the oldest national park and the southernmost one. Also understand why some tiny island parks matter when the smallest parks are listed.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2008
What to Study: Which states and Union Territories have the most national parks, and which have only one? The list keeps growing. Follow the recent reports of Similipal in Odisha and Sikhna Jwhwlao in Assam being notified as national parks, and be ready to confirm their status from current news.
What to Study: Between which river and which range does Hemis lie, and what is unusual about its position in the Himalaya? Know its flagship cat and the Ladakh urial. Also place the Changthang and Karakoram (Nubra-Shyok) sanctuaries, and the key animal each one protects.
What to Study: Where does the hangul (Kashmir stag) survive, and how threatened is it? Place Dachigam in the Zabarwan Range and the areas around it: Overa-Aru, Tral and Rajparian. Also know Kishtwar National Park and the cat it is known for.
What to Study: Where is Great Himalayan National Park, and why does its position between two biogeographic realms matter? Place the nearby Pin Valley, Khirganga and Inderkilla parks. Which animal is each of the Himachal sanctuaries Kais, Lippa Asrang and Kugti known for?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2019
What to Study: Where do these two parks lie, and how do they relate to the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and to World Heritage listing? Know the Nanda Devi Sanctuary basin and the endemic alpine flowers. Which climatic zone does the Valley of Flowers lie in completely? Is the same true of Manas, Namdapha or Neora Valley?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2020
What to Study: Know Gangotri National Park (the Gaumukh glacier and the Bhagirathi catchment) and Govind National Park (home of the Snow Leopard Project). Which Uttarakhand sanctuaries protect the musk deer? Be clear which parks elsewhere in India are, and are not, musk deer habitats.
What to Study: Where is Khangchendzonga National Park, which peak gives it its name, and which animals live there? Place the Sikkim sanctuaries Barsey Rhododendron, Fambong Lho, Kitam and Pangolakha, and the neighbouring protected areas they join, where any.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2015
What to Study: What makes this park so different from every other national park in the world? Understand what phumdis are, the lake it floats on and its link to that lake's Ramsar status. Which deer does it protect, and how threatened is it?
What to Study: Which rivers surround Dibru-Saikhowa, and which unusual animals live wild there? Know its biosphere reserve status. Understand why Dihing Patkai (the Jeypore rainforest) matters, the duck it is known for, and the threats from nearby coal mining and oil extraction.
What to Study: Where is Pobitora, and why is it called a "mini Kaziranga"? Understand how the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 moved rhinos from here to other parks within Assam, such as Manas. Which Uttar Pradesh park received rhinos much earlier, in the 1980s? Place Lawkhowa between Kaziranga and Orang.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2026
What to Study: Where are the hoolock gibbon and the golden langur protected? Place Hollongapar Gibbon, Chakrasila, Raimona and Barnadi in Assam, and Sepahijala and Trishna in Tripura. Remember the main animal of each, such as the pygmy hog and hispid hare, and the clouded leopard.
What to Study: Place Mouling National Park and Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary within the Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve. Also place the neighbouring Eaglenest and Sessa Orchid sanctuaries beside Pakke, and know the main feature or species of each.
What to Study: Place Balphakram and Nokrek in the Garo Hills, Murlen and Phawngpui in Mizoram, Intanki in Nagaland, and the Bison (Rajbari) and Clouded Leopard parks in Tripura. Know one feature of each, such as a peak, a bird or a biosphere reserve link.
What to Study: Where are Jaldapara and Gorumara, and which rivers flow beside them? Understand why the Dooars suit rhinos and elephants. Place the nearby Chapramari and Mahananda sanctuaries, and the forest corridor that links Jaldapara with Buxa.
What to Study: Where in the Darjeeling–Kalimpong hills are these two parks, and which endangered animal are they known for? Understand how they connect to Pangolakha and Barsey sanctuaries across the border in Sikkim.
What to Study: Which stretch of the Ganga does the Vikramshila sanctuary protect, in which district, and for which national aquatic animal? Place the other river and wetland sanctuaries: Hastinapur, Kaimur (a tiger corridor) and the Udaipur oxbow lake. Where does the Ganga turtle sanctuary lie now, after the Varanasi one was denotified?
What to Study: Where is Gir, and what are its forest type, its key river and its "lifeline" dam? Which nearby areas (Girnar, Mitiyala, Barda) now hold lions, and why is a second home needed? Keep up with the latest lion census and the plan for Barda, as both are in the news.
What to Study: Where is Keoladeo (Bharatpur), and why is its marsh called man-made? Know its Ramsar and World Heritage status and its famous birds, such as the sarus crane. Why does the Siberian crane no longer reach it? Understand the grass invasion and water shortage behind its Montreux listing, and Salim Ali's link to the park.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2010UPSC 2020
What to Study: Which districts does Desert National Park cover, and which bird is its main conservation concern? Are human settlements really absent from a national park? Place the great Indian bustard sanctuaries of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Which of them no longer hold the bird? Also place the lesser florican sites Sailana and Sardarpur.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2011
What to Study: Which sanctuaries in the Rann of Kutch region protect the Indian wild ass, the flamingo and the chinkara? Understand the threat from salt panning, and how these sanctuaries connect to the Great Rann of Kutch Biosphere Reserve.
What to Study: Match the blackbuck and chinkara to their sites: Velavadar, Tal Chhapar, Abohar, Ranebennur, Karanja Sohal, Deulgaon-Rehekuri, Vellanadu, Pranahita, Yadahalli and Bukkapatna. Why is Abohar unusual in who owns the land? Which antelopes occur in India, and which are found only in the Indian subcontinent?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2017
What to Study: Which three states share the National Chambal Sanctuary, and which gharial, turtle and river dolphin species does it protect? Know the other gharial sites: Ken, Son and Katerniaghat. Is the Madras Crocodile Bank a protected area?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2017
What to Study: Where is Kuno, and why is it linked to both the cheetah and Asiatic lion reintroduction? Which other site received cheetahs in 2025, and which places have been proposed for lions or cheetahs (Banni, Narayan Sarovar, Sitamata, Mukundra)? Keep up with the latest on cheetah sites.
What to Study: Where are the Mandla Plant Fossil National Park and the Dinosaur Fossils National Park? Know the river valley they share and what kind of fossils each one protects.
What to Study: Place Mount Abu, Kumbhalgarh, Sitamata, Balaram Ambaji and Jessore along the Aravalli hills. Which of them protect the sloth bear? What is the highest point of Mount Abu sanctuary known as?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2005UPSC 2013
What to Study: Know where Silent Valley is and the biosphere reserve it lies in. Which rivers rise in or near it? Know its rainforest and the primate for which it is best known.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2007
What to Study: What are sholas, and where do they occur? Place the Munnar-area parks (Eravikulam, Anamudi Shola, Mathikettan, Pambadum) and the Chinnar and Kurinjimala sanctuaries, and Mukurthi in the Nilgiris. Understand how the Nilgiri tahr, Anamudi peak and neelakurinji link to these areas.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2005
What to Study: Place Mollem (with Dudhsagar falls and its mining threat), Madei, Bhimgad and Kudremukh in the Western Ghats. Which states share the Mahadayi (Mandovi) river, and what did the 2018 tribunal award settle? What is the Kalasa-Banduri diversion?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2004UPSC 2005UPSC 2007
What to Study: Place Papikonda, Sri Venkateswara, Sri Lankamalleswara, Gundla Brahmeswaram and Sri Penusila Narasimha in Andhra Pradesh, and Kanger Valley in Bastar. What feature or threat is each known for, and which two macaques meet at Papikonda?
What to Study: Match each sanctuary to the animal it protects: Daroji, Gudekote, Ramadevara Betta, Kadavur, Rangayyanadurga, Melkote, Mahuadanr, Bhimashankar, Srivilliputhur and Gangaikondam. Which two are the first sanctuaries of their kind in India?
What to Study: Know the national parks inside or beside Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhopal and Hyderabad. What is unusual about Van Vihar, and about the biological park inside Bannerghatta?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2020
What to Study: Which protected areas lie in the Cauvery basin? Be able to separate them from areas on other rivers, such as Godavari-basin parks. Know Nagarhole, Bandipur, Wayanad, Sathyamangalam, Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple, Male Mahadeshwara, the Cauvery sanctuaries, Talakaveri and Ranganathittu.
What to Study: Place Saddle Peak, Mount Harriett, Rani Jhansi Marine, Mahatma Gandhi Marine (Wandoor) and the Button Island parks. Which island sanctuary has an active volcano and which has a dormant one? What is the highest point of the islands?
What to Study: Which biosphere reserve do these two parks form, and which of them is India's southernmost national park? Know the leatherback turtle, megapode and robber crab. Understand the Great Nicobar project in outline and the conservation concerns about it. Follow the reported 2026 tribunal decision on it.
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 1999
What to Study: Where are India's two main marine national parks? Know the corals, the dugong and the threats to each. How does the Gulf of Mannar national park differ from the larger biosphere reserve around it?
Asked in UPSC PrelimsUPSC 2010UPSC 2011UPSC 2012
What to Study: Learn where Bhitarkanika and Gahirmatha lie in Odisha and which rivers reach the area. Know the mangroves and the saltwater crocodile, the mass nesting of the olive ridley turtle, and Bhitarkanika's Ramsar status.
What to Study: Place Coringa and Krishna (mangroves), Pulicat (lagoon), Malvan Marine, Balukhand-Konark, Chorao in Goa and Pitti in Lakshadweep, each with its coast or state.