Consider the following statements: I. Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only. II. Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only. III. One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct answer is A (1 only). The question tests whether a species is endemic to India, which is a narrower idea than simply being found in India.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Asiatic lion survives in the wild only in the Gir landscape of Gujarat, and it is the only wild lion population outside Africa. Its numbers have grown since the 2020 census, which counted 674 lions.
• Statement 2 is wrong. The Bactrian (double-humped) camel is found in India only in a small population in the Nubra valley of Ladakh. Its natural range extends across Central Asia, including Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan.
• Statement 3 is wrong. The one-horned rhinoceros is native to the Indo-Gangetic plain, mainly Assam and West Bengal in India, but it also occurs in Nepal.

The core concept is endemism. For Mains, this links to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and India's species conservation programmes, which must account for transboundary populations. Note that the Asiatic lion's Gir population has also been reported beyond its historical range, and recent figures should be checked against the latest census.

Trap: assuming that a species present in India is endemic to India. The Nubra camel is the classic example.