Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

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A powerful winter storm rapidly intensified into a bomb cyclone named Winter Storm Ezra across the United States of America (USA). More than 58 million people were under winter storm warnings, with blizzards, strong winds, and power outages. A bomb cyclone forms when atmospheric pressure drops sharply within 24 hours, causing extreme weather. Authorities warned against travel as hazardous conditions continue moving eastward.

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Researchers discovered three new meadow katydid species in Jammu and Kashmir named Conocephalus usmanii, Conocephalus nagariensis, and Conocephalus ganderbali. Katydids are mainly nocturnal insects found on all continents except Antarctica. More than 8,000 species exist, belonging to the family Tettigoniidae. They are orthopterans, meaning straight-winged insects, related closely to crickets. Katydids are also called long-horned grasshoppers or bush crickets. They have long thread-like antennae and leaf-like bodies for camouflage. Most are herbivores with a lifespan of about one year.

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During the All India Tiger Estimation 2026 survey, the Indian giant squirrel was sighted in the Atwan region of the Pune forest division. The Indian Giant Squirrel is also known as the Malabar Giant Squirrel and is a large rodent species native to India. It belongs to the category of tree squirrels and is adapted to living in forest canopies. It is among the largest squirrel species found in the world. The species is mainly distributed across the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, and the Satpura Range. It is the state animal of Maharashtra and is locally known as Shekru.

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The Central Empowered Committee recommended restoring the Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) to its original 2016 extent. Bannerghatta National Park is located in the Anekal range hills near Bengaluru, Karnataka. India’s first butterfly enclosure was opened here in 2006. The Suvarnamukhi stream flows through the park and is the main water source for wildlife. It is a key habitat for endangered Asian elephants, tigers, leopards, Indian gaur, deer species, sloth bear, pangolin, and slender loris.

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Thailand launched its first rewilding effort by releasing a young Indo-Pacific leopard shark near Maiton Island. Indo-Pacific leopard sharks are also called zebra sharks due to their changing spotted or striped patterns with age. They are slow-swimming reef sharks found in tropical coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific. It is classified as Endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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The Vishwamitri River flows through Vadodara in Gujarat and is called India’s Crocodile River due to mugger crocodiles. It is a small, non-perennial river originating from the western and southern slopes of the Pavagadh Hills in eastern Gujarat. The river flows westward through Vadodara, joins tributaries Dhadar and Jambuva, and drains into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Khambhat. It hosts the protected mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris).

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Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary recorded over five lakh birds of about 200 species in the latest census, showing a 21% rise from 4.12 lakh birds in 2024. The increase is mainly due to no boating, reduced tourist movement, and very low noise pollution over the last two years. It is located around 64 kilometres west of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. “Nal Sarovar” means Tap Lake and it is a natural shallow lake with muddy lagoons and 36 small islets.

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The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife recommended diversion of about 272 hectares of forest for the Kopra Medium Irrigation Project. The diversion lies in the core area of Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve is located in Madhya Pradesh. It includes areas of Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary. The reserve lies across the Narmada and Yamuna river basins.

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A third tigress was recently released into the wild at Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), boosting tiger conservation in western Maharashtra. Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) is located in the Sahyadri Ranges of the Western Ghats, Maharashtra, and is the northernmost tiger habitat in the Western Ghats. It is the first tiger reserve of Western Maharashtra and the fourth in the state.

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Researchers have cautioned that the increasing presence of lion-tailed macaques in human-dominated landscapes is largely driven by easy access to food associated with human settlements. The lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey and is also known as the “beard ape” due to its distinctive silver-white mane around the face. It is one of the smallest species of macaques in the world and is endemic to the evergreen rainforests of the southern Western Ghats. According to its conservation status, the lion-tailed macaque is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List