Conservation of wildlife through awareness
- Wildlife Quiz competition : Part 1 -

Kh Hitler Singh *

Nongin - The State Bird of Manipur :: Pix: R.K. Birjit Singh

Every year Wildlife Week Celebration is carried out in the first week of October throughout India to spread the message of conservation of our fast vanishing and dwindling wildlife. Many activities are carried out by the Forest Department of every State and Union Territories. (Genesis of Wildlife Week Celebration in India).

Comparing to Forestry; Wildlife is a comparatively new subject and it is still evolving and the term "Wildlife" was coined by the First Zoo Director of New York Zoological Park, William Temple Hornaday in 1913 in his book entitled "Our Vanishing Wild Life; Its Extermination and Preservation". It is in vogue to combine the two part of "Wild Life" as "Wildlife".

Certainly Foresters/persons with Forestry background are best suited for wildlife management training even though persons with veterinary background are also eligible for undergoing the training. In India Wildlife training is imparted by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Government of India to the professional Foresters/Veterinarians at two levels viz Certificate Course in Wildlife Management and Post Graduate Diploma course in Wildlife Management. The Institute also carried out academic course of Master Degree in Wildlife Science and Research or Doctoral Degree in Wildlife.

The Institute is unique in the entire South Asian region and caters the need of professional training for many South Asian countries. The Institute which was set up in 1982, has trained more than 1153 officers in Wildlife Management including foreign national till 2013-14.(www.wii.gov.in) One of the main objective of the Institute is to train sufficient number of Protected Area Managers and mould conservation oriented mindset in the psyche of the trained officers.

As per the order of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of Manipur; this year the State Forest Department of Manipur celebrated Wildlife Week 2014 with a much wider participations. The awareness activities mostly for the students; such as article writing competition, quiz competition and painting competition were carried out at all the Districts/Forest Divisions of Manipur. Western Forest Division, Tamenglong also carried out awareness activities of the school students on Wildlife Conservation.

Our Division carried out article writing competition, quiz competition and painting competition on 30th September 2014 at United Builders School, Tamenglong so that we may be able to submit the first three answer sheets of Article Writing and Painting Competition for the State Level Prizes. A total of 117 students participated in three categories of Wildlife awareness activities from eight schools of Tamenglong District. The participation and awareness level of these students were very encouraging even though such competition was held for the first time at Tamenglong.

The valedictory function was held at United Builders School, Tamenglong with Shri K. Lakshmikanta Sharma, ADM/Tamenglong, Shri Huri Golmei DFO/Tamenglong, Dr. Chambo Gonmei CMO and Honorary Wildlife Warden, Mr. Nehemiah Panmei Director TAMBAK and Honorary Wildlife Warden as the Chief Guest, President and Guests of Honour. The function marked with taking Wildlife Pledge by the President of the function, oral Quiz with instant prizes, declaration of the result of competition held on 30th September 2014, distribution of Prizes, speeches by the VIP of the function on the issue of wildlife conservation.

The Objective type Wildlife Quiz competition in the district was based on the Forest & Wildlife of India, North East India, Manipur State and Tamenglong District. Some questions are also set from Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (amended up-to 2006). For the students friends of Tamenglong who have not got the chance to participate and for further awareness to the students of Manipur; we would like to share the Objective type wildlife quiz herewith. The answer key is also provided at the end.

Tick the correct answer.

Q.1. Which migratory bird come to Barak River of Tamenglong annually in the month of October, November in large number from Siberian countries......
(a) Brahminy shelduck (b) Northern pintail (c) Amur falcon (d) Non-of the above.

Q.2. The State Bird of Manipur is....................................
(a) Blyth Tragopan (Tragopan blythee) (b) Soibol (Manipur bush quail) (Perdicula manipurensis) (c) Ucheck Langmeidong (Great Indian Horn bill) (Buceros bicornis) (d) Nongin (Mrs Hume bar tailed pheasant) (Srymaticus humiae humiae)

Q.3. Which bird of Manipur is not found or sighted for the last eighty years.
(a) Mrs Hume bar tailed pheasant (Nongin) (Srymaticus humiae humiae) (b) Manipur bush quail (Soibol) (c) Blyth Tragopan (Tragopan blythee) (d) Kalij Pheasant (Waba) (Lophura leucomelanos)

Q. 4. The following mammal of Manipur is not in the Schedule –I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972
(a) Hog deer (Kharsa)(Axis porcinus) (b) Hoolock gibbon (Yongmu) (Hylobatus hoolock) (c) Sambar deer (Sajal) (Cervus unicolor) (d) Brow antlered deer (Sangai) (Rucervus eldii eldii)

Q. 5.The State Flower of Manipur is found in which Protected Areas of Manipur
(a)Keibul Lamjao National Park (b) Yangoupokpi Lokchao Wildlife Sanctuary (c) Shirui National Park (d) Buning Wildlife Sanctuary.

Q. 6. The National Animal of India is............................
(a) Tiger (Panthera tigris) (b) Leopard (Panthera pardus) (c ) Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus) (d) Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica)

Q. 7. How much do mature male tiger's measure from head to tail?
(a) 6-7 ft (b) 4-5 ft (c) 9-10 ft (d) 3-4 ft

Q. 8.There are 9(nine) species of Tiger. Which tiger species has the largest body size.
(a) Caspian tiger (b) Sumatran tiger (c) Royal Bengal tiger (d) Siberian tiger.

Q. 9. The main difference of a male Lion and female Lion is..............
(a) The Male is larger than the Female Lion. (b) The male posses mane on the head and female do not have mane. (c) The male has antler but female does not have antler (d) Both the male and the female have mane on the head.

Q.10. Which National Park is the first National Park of India?
(a) Jim Corbett National Park (b) Gir National Park (c ) Kaziranga National Park (d) Kanha National Park.



To be continued ...