India has the largest population of the Asian X. Today, there are just about 20,000 to 25,000 X in their natural habitat spreading across the evergreen forests, dry thorn forests, swamps and grasslands. Their prime habitats are, however, the moist deciduo

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Q: 54 (IAS/1999)
“India has the largest population of the Asian X. Today, there are just about 20,000 to 25,000 X in their natural habitat spreading across the evergreen forests, dry thorn forests, swamps and grasslands. Their prime habitats are, however, the moist deciduous forests. The X population in India ranges from North-West India where they are found in the forest divisions of Dehradun, Bijnor and Nainital districts of UP to the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka and Kerala and in Tamil Nadu. In Central India, their population is distributed in southern Bihar and Orissa. In the East, they are seen in North-Bengal, Assam and a few other states.” The animal ‘X’ referred to in this quotation is

question_subject: 

Geography

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,75,63,16,75,27,20

keywords: 

{'west india': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'central india': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'assam': [13, 2, 2, 11], 'india': [8, 1, 7, 13], 'kerala': [7, 2, 0, 3], 'prime habitats': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'largest population': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'rhinoceros': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'natural habitat': [0, 1, 1, 8], 'population': [3, 1, 2, 1], 'evergreen forests': [1, 1, 1, 1], 'grasslands': [2, 0, 0, 1], 'karnataka': [5, 0, 6, 5], 'tamil nadu': [3, 0, 1, 1], 'southern bihar': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'bengal': [2, 0, 1, 2], 'elephant': [2, 0, 0, 0], 'western ghats': [1, 0, 2, 0], 'moist deciduous forests': [0, 1, 0, 1], 'lion': [1, 0, 0, 0]}

The question is about identifying the animal `X` mentioned in a description about its geographic spread and habitat in India.

Option 1: Lion - is incorrect as the lion population in India is concentrated in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, which isn`t mentioned in the passage.

Option 2: Elephant - is the correct answer. Elephants are indeed found in the regions mentioned in the passage, ranging from the North-west part of India in forest divisions of Dehradun, Bijnor and Nainital districts, to the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka and Kerala, and in Tamil Nadu, and in Central and Eastern India as mentioned.

Option 3: Tiger - is incorrect because even though tigers are found in some of the regions mentioned, their distribution does not match the exact distribution of `X`.

Option 4: One-horned rhinoceros - is incorrect as this animal is primarily found in Assam with a small population in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, not across as many areas mentioned for `X`.