Which of the following are the most likely places to find the musk in its natural habitat? 1) Askot Wildlife Sanctuary 2) Gangotri National Park 3) Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary 4) Manas National Park Select the correct answer using the code given below:

The correct answer is A (1 and 2 only). Musk deer (Moschus species) are alpine and subalpine animals of the high Himalaya, usually found between roughly 2,500 and 4,000 metres in dense coniferous and mixed forests with rocky, steep terrain.

• Statement 1, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary (Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand): Correct. It lies in the high Kumaon Himalaya and is a recognised musk deer habitat.
• Statement 2, Gangotri National Park (Uttarakhand): Correct. Its high-altitude forests and alpine meadows support musk deer.
• Statement 3, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary (Lakhimpur Kheri, UP): Wrong. It is a Terai sal forest and grassland reserve, a lowland habitat with swamp deer and tigers, not musk deer.
• Statement 4, Manas National Park (Assam): Wrong. It is a lowland Brahmaputra floodplain reserve known for the one-horned rhino, tiger and pygmy hog.

The core concept is altitude-linked habitat. Mapping species to their ecological zone is a recurring Prelims pattern, and it links to Mains GS-III on biodiversity conservation and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, under which musk deer is listed in Schedule I.

Trap: Aspirants pick the famous tiger reserves and sanctuaries like Kishanpur and Manas because they recognise the names, without checking altitude and biome.