RAS question
Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha is particularly known for conservation of:
Correct answer: (D) Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha is particularly known for conserving the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
Explanation
Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara, Odisha is linked most directly with the saltwater crocodile because it holds India's largest population of this species. The Wildlife Institute of India's official species page identifies Crocodylus porosus as the salt-water or estuarine crocodile and says a large population occurs within the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary of Odisha. Bhitarkanika is India's second-largest mangrove ecosystem and a Ramsar Site, while Gahirmatha beach within it is the world's largest rookery for Olive Ridley sea turtles. The key conservation marker is therefore not a general forest mammal, but a coastal-mangrove reptile: the saltwater crocodile.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bengal Tiger is wrong because Bhitarkanika and the WII species page are tied to a large saltwater crocodile population, not to tiger conservation.
- (B) Snow Leopard is wrong because it is a Himalayan species, whereas Bhitarkanika is an Odisha mangrove and coastal habitat associated with saltwater crocodiles.
- (C) Asian Elephant is wrong because Bhitarkanika is associated with saltwater crocodile conservation rather than elephant conservation.
Concept
Protected-area species associations in Environment and Ecology connect national parks, Ramsar sites, mangroves and flagship conservation species in one fact cluster.