UPSC Prelims 2016 Q22: Environment & Ecology – Protected Areas & Wildlife

UPSC Prelims 2016, General Studies Paper I · Environment & Ecology

In which of the following regions of India are you “most likely” to come across the ‘Great Indian Hornbill’ in its natural habitat?

Answer: (d) Western Ghats

Explanation

Great Indian Hornbill

The Great Indian Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) is a large bird with a yellow casque on its beak.

It lives in tall, wet evergreen forests and eats mainly fruit, above all figs.

Region	Habitat	Likely to find the hornbill?
(a) Sand deserts of northwest India	Dry, treeless	No
(b) Higher Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir	Cold, alpine	No
(c) Salt marshes of western Gujarat	Saline flats	No
(d) Western Ghats	Evergreen rain forest	Yes

Key facts:

Feature	Detail
Also found in	North-east India and the Himalayan foothills
State bird of	Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh
IUCN status	Vulnerable
Legal protection	Schedule I, Wildlife (Protection) Act

Answer: (d) Western Ghats.

(a) Incorrect. Sand deserts have no tall fruiting trees for hornbills.
(b) Incorrect. The Higher Himalayas are too cold and have no rain forest.
(c) Incorrect. Salt marshes of Gujarat suit flamingos and wild ass, not hornbills.
(d) CORRECT. The Western Ghats rain forests are the natural habitat of the Great Indian Hornbill.

Great Indian Hornbill: evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and north-east India; state bird of Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh; Schedule I.

Great Indian Hornbill = Western Ghats and North-East.

Forgetting that hornbills need tall old trees with hollows for nesting.
Confusing the Great Indian Hornbill with the Great Indian Bustard of the desert.
Linking it only to Nagaland's Hornbill Festival and missing the Western Ghats.

Hornbill = rain forest. Bustard = dry grassland. Do not mix the two 'Great Indian' birds.