Maharashtra State PSC Model Paper 3

The correct answer is 1 and 2 only.

Important Point

• Recently, the first population estimation exercise of the Indian Gaur (Bison) was carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division, Tamil Nadu.
• World Wide Fund for Nature India assisted the exercise and highlighted that there are an estimated 2,000 Indian gaurs across the division.
• The Indian Gaur or Bison (Bos gaurus) is the world’s largest and tallest wild bovines, with 85% of their current population found in India. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Gaurs are found on the forested hills and grassy areas of the south to south-east Asia.
• They are found in India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
• The Western Ghats in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.
• The gaur is the State Animal of Goa and Bihar.
• The Indian Gaur is listed as a Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• It is tagged as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect. 
• It is listed in CITES Appendix I.
• Gaurs are largely confined to evergreen forests or semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, but also occur in deciduous forest areas at the periphery of their range.
• Gaur is highly threatened by poaching for trade to supply international markets.