Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

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Amazonian stingless bees have become the first insects in the world to be granted legal rights. The decision was taken through a landmark ordinance passed by local municipalities in Peru. The law recognises their right to exist, survive, and flourish. This step highlights their critical role as pollinators in the Amazon rainforest ecosystem. It also acknowledges their importance to biodiversity, agriculture, and Indigenous communities. The move sets a global precedent for legal protection of insects and nature.

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Recently, an ultra-rare leopard colour morph was documented in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka, marking the first such sighting in the state and the second in India. The leopard has been named the “Sandalwood Leopard” due to its pale reddish-pink coat resembling sandalwood. The animal is a female leopard (Panthera pardus), around seven years old, seen with a normally coloured cub. Such leopards are globally called “strawberry leopards” and are extremely rare. Globally, this colour morph has been recorded only five times, including one earlier sighting in Rajasthan in 2021.

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Scientists discovered a new species of reed snake in Mizoram and named it Calamaria mizoramensis after the state. It is a non-venomous snake, meaning it does not produce poison harmful to humans. The species is nocturnal, active mainly at night, and semi-fossorial, meaning it partly lives underground. It inhabits humid, forested hill regions at elevations of 670 to 1,295 metres above sea level, even near human settlements. The snake is small, with a dark brown to blackish body, faint stripes, and a yellow underside.

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Scientists led by “Frogman of India” S. D. Biju discovered two new frog species from remote mountain regions of Arunachal Pradesh. Soman’s Slender Arm Frog, scientifically named Leptobrachium somani, was discovered at Tiwarigaon and named in honour of environmental journalist E. Somanath. This small frog is about 55 millimetres long, has a greyish-brown body with light-grey markings, and silver-grey to light-blue eyes. It lives in evergreen forests, with males calling near slow or fast-flowing streams. Mechuka Slender Arm Frog, known as Leptobrachium mechuka, is named after Mechuka town where it was first found.

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Kerala and Tamil Nadu have started restoring habitats and strengthening monitoring of the grey slender loris. The grey slender loris, scientifically called Loris lydekkerianus, is a primate belonging to the family Loridae and is a prosimian, an ancient group of primates. It is found in southern India, mainly Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, and also in Sri Lanka. It lives in rainforests, dry forests, scrublands, bamboo areas, swamps, and montane cloud forests. It is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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Parts of Dal Lake in Srinagar recently froze as the city recorded its coldest winter night, with temperatures well below freezing across the Kashmir Valley. Dal Lake is a mid-altitude urban freshwater lake located in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. It is surrounded by the Pir Panjal mountains. The lake is vital for tourism and recreation and is called the “Jewel in the crown of Kashmir” or “Srinagar’s Jewel.”

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Rapid habitat destruction has forced the arboreal Phayre’s leaf monkey to change its natural behaviour and habits. Phayre’s leaf monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei) is an Old World monkey that is diurnal and tree-dwelling. It lives in tropical, deciduous, and evergreen forests, and is also found in bamboo clusters and rubber plantations. It is distributed in North-East India, mainly Tripura, Assam, and Mizoram, along with eastern Bangladesh and western Myanmar. ts conservation status is Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

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Scientists have confirmed India’s first case of freshwater pufferfish poisoning, highlighting a new public health concern. Pufferfish belong to the order Tetraodontiformes and are also called toadfish, patkafish, balloonfish, and fugu. They are omnivorous and benthic, meaning they live and feed near the river bottom. In India, they are mainly found in the Western Ghats and river basins like Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi. Freshwater pufferfish species in India are often endemic and indicate healthy river ecosystems. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), pufferfish are listed as Vulnerable.

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The red-eared slider turtle, spread through the pet trade, is threatening freshwater bodies in Coimbatore. It is among the world’s most widely introduced freshwater turtles, found on all continents except Antarctica. This predominantly aquatic species is identified by red stripes behind each ear. It is highly adaptable, survives harsh conditions, and thrives in non-native habitats. It lives 20–50 years in the wild and is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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India’s pygmy hog is the smallest and rarest species of wild pig in the world and is rapidly vanishing from its grasslands. It is one of the few mammals that builds its own nest with a roof for shelter. The species serves as an indicator of grassland health, reflecting the condition of its primary habitat. Pygmy hogs prefer undisturbed riverine grasslands with dense tall grasses, herbs, shrubs, and young trees. Currently, they are found only in Assam’s Manas and Orang National Parks. The species is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.