What is the difference between the antelopes Oryx and Chiru?

The correct answer is A. Oryx is a desert antelope, adapted to hot, arid conditions with heat tolerance and the ability to get water from its food, and it is found in the Arabian and Thar deserts, including Rajasthan and Kutch. Chiru, or Tibetan antelope, lives on the cold, high-altitude steppes and semi-deserts of the Tibetan plateau and Ladakh, at heights above 4,000 m.

• B is wrong. Oryx has straight, long horns, not antlers, and the Chiru is not hunted for musk. Chiru is poached for its fine underwool, which is used to make shahtoosh.
• C is wrong. Oryx is not restricted to western India; it also lives in the Arabian Peninsula. Chiru is not confined to north-east India; its range is the Tibetan plateau and adjoining high Himalayan areas.
• D is wrong because A is correct.

The core concept is adaptation to habitat, which links to the ecology and biogeography sections of the syllabus. For Mains, Chiru poaching is a good case study on wildlife trade. Chiru is in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and CITES Appendix I, and shahtoosh trade is banned in India.

Trap: Aspirants often guess on the basis of 'desert' versus 'mountain' without checking the poaching facts in B and C, or they assume Chiru is a north-east species because of the Himalayas.