Consider the following pairs relating to the Asiatic wild buffalo: Item - Correct Description 1. IUCN Red List status - Endangered 2. Legal protection - Listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the highest level of legal protection available 3. Global population share - India holds over 90 percent of the world's wild water buffalo population, most of it in Assam 4. State animal status - Declared the state animal of Assam, the state hosting most of its population How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Ethics / Environment · 4 Aug 2026
Asiatic wild buffalo Schedule I
About this question
Why in news
Chhattisgarh is translocating wild buffaloes from Assam into guarded enclosures after its own genetically pure population fell to just 12-16 animals.
Why for UPSC
This tests a precisely stated but easily confused fact - the buffalo's state-animal designation belongs to Chhattisgarh, not to Assam where the population is concentrated - a distinction UPSC often exploits in species-related questions.
Prelims summary
The Asiatic wild buffalo is IUCN Endangered, has Schedule I protection under the WPA 1972 and India (mostly Assam) holds over 90% of the global wild population - but it is Chhattisgarh's state animal, not Assam's.
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