According to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which of the following animals cannot be hunted by any person except under some provisions provided by law? 1. Gharial 2. Indian wild ass 3. Wild buffalo Select the correct answer using the code given below:

The answer is D. The key provision is Section 9 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which bans hunting of animals listed in Schedules I to IV, except as permitted under Sections 11, 12, 18 and 19, such as hunting by permit for scientific or management reasons. So the question reduces to checking which of the three animals sit in these schedules.

All three are in Schedule I, the highest protection category:

• 1. Gharial: a Schedule I reptile, the critically endangered fish-eating crocodilian of Indian rivers. Correct to include.
• 2. Indian wild ass: Schedule I, found in the Little Rann of Kutch. Correct to include.
• 3. Wild buffalo: Schedule I, the wild Asiatic buffalo (Bubalus arnee). Correct to include.

Since all three are protected, only option D covers them all. Options A, B and C each omit at least one animal. The core concept is the schedule structure of the Act, which connects to the Mains theme of wildlife conservation, protected areas and India's obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Trap: Aspirants try to recall a 'protected list' from memory and drop the wild buffalo or the wild ass because they seem less familiar. Learn the schedules, not the animals' popularity.