Arrange the following events in chronological order of their commencement : I. Project Tiger II. Project Elephant III. Wildlife Protect Act IV. Biological Diversity Act Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

The correct answer is C. The Wildlife (Protection) Act was enacted in 1972, Project Tiger was launched in 1973, Project Elephant was launched in 1992, and the Biological Diversity Act was passed in 2002.

The core concept is the legal and policy sequence of Indian wildlife conservation. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is the legal base that created protected areas and species schedules. Project Tiger (1973) is a centrally sponsored scheme that works within that framework, and Tiger Reserves later came under the National Tiger Conservation Authority after the 2005 amendment. Project Elephant (1992) is a separate centrally sponsored scheme for elephant conservation. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 implements the Convention on Biological Diversity and regulates access to biological resources and benefit sharing through the National Biodiversity Authority. For Mains, this sequence shows how conservation moved from species-specific schemes to a broader biodiversity law.

• Option A puts the Wildlife Act after Project Tiger, which is wrong because the Act came first.
• Option B places Project Elephant before Project Tiger, but Project Elephant started nearly two decades later.
• Option D places the Biological Diversity Act before Project Tiger, which reverses a gap of about three decades.

Trap: Aspirants often assume the famous Project Tiger came first and place the Wildlife Act after it. The Act of 1972 predates Project Tiger by a year.