Mouse Deer

About Mouse deer:

• Mouse deer (also known as Spotted Chevrotain) is one of the endangered species.
• It looks like weird mash-up of a deer, mouse and pig.
• It is not considered true deer, but shares suborder with deer (Ruminantia).
• It has its own family called Tragulidae. It is
• Because of their small size they are smallest ungulates (large mammals) in the world.
• It is found in deciduous and evergreen forests throughout India.
• Also called “Jarini Pandi” in Telugu, their number has been decreasing at an alarming rate in recent years because of destruction of habitat and poaching.
• As per a recently published paper, the species belongs to an an ancient group of primitive ruminants, and is listed in schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and declared as Least Concern species by IUCN (2017).

PRELIMS QUESTION:

Q. Consider the following statements regarding Indian Spotted Chevrotain:

1.The animal is nocturnal in habit

2.It is listed in schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and declared as Least Concern species by IUCN (2017).

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims question