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Madhya Pradesh translocates over 1,200 protected blackbucks and nilgai from Shajapur farmland

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: Government of Madhya Pradesh (Jansampark release, 28 Oct 2026); The Indian Express; Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (India Code)

Madhya Pradesh translocates over 1,200 protected blackbucks and nilgai from Shajapur farmland
Illustration (AI-generated)

Madhya Pradesh has moved more than 1,236 crop-raiding blackbucks and nilgai out of Shajapur district, its Chief Minister said on 28 October 2026. Helicopters herd them into boma enclosures; trucks take them to forests of Sheopur, Gandhi Sagar and Rani Durgavati. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 lists the blackbuck in Schedule I and the nilgai in Schedule II.

Syllabus: GS3 · Agriculture & Irrigation; Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Environment & Conservation

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 conservation and crop protection. Prelims can ask which Schedule of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 lists the blackbuck and the nilgai, and who may declare vermin; Mains, how to manage human-wildlife conflict without culling.

Why it matters

A farmer in Shajapur whose standing crop is grazed by antelope herds cannot simply have the animals shot, because the law protects them. Moving the herds to forests is meant to give that farmer relief while sparing the animals. The burden shifts to the State, which has to arrange helicopters, a foreign specialist team, vets and trucks. The receiving forests also need enough grass, water and space, or the animals may stray into fields near their new home and start the same conflict there. If the drive succeeds, other States facing crop raiding may try it, as the Chief Minister hopes.

Prelims pointers

  • Section 9 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 prohibits hunting any wild animal in Schedules I and II, except as sections 11 and 12 allow.
  • A Schedule I animal may be hunted only if it endangers human life or is disabled or diseased beyond recovery, on the Chief Wild Life Warden's written order.
  • Danger to property, including standing crops, is a ground for permitting the hunting of a Schedule II animal, by a written order giving reasons.
  • Under section 62, the Central Government may notify a Schedule II animal as vermin for a stated area and period; it then falls outside Schedule II there.
  • Under section 11, the capture or translocation of a Schedule I animal must be carried out in a manner that causes the animal minimum trauma.
  • A Schedule I animal captured instead of being killed may be kept in captivity only if it cannot be rehabilitated in the wild, with reasons recorded in writing.
  • The Act defines a captive animal as any Schedule I or Schedule II animal that is captured, kept or bred in captivity.
  • Schedule IV of the amended Act reproduces the CITES Appendices; both the blackbuck and the nilgai figure in Appendix III.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2022, consider the following statements:

1. The nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) is listed in Schedule I of the amended Act.

2. The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is listed in Schedule I of the amended Act.

3. The Act bars the hunting of animals in both Schedule I and Schedule II, except where it permits otherwise.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The blackbuck is a Schedule I animal, the nilgai a Schedule II animal, and the hunting bar covers both lists.

Statement 1: incorrect. The amended Act places the nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus, in Part A (Mammals) of Schedule II, not Schedule I.

Statement 2: correct. The blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra, is the first antelope entry in Part A (Mammals) of Schedule I.

Statement 3: correct. Section 9 bars hunting any wild animal in Schedules I and II, except as sections 11 and 12 provide.

Eliminate: Statement 1 is the surest: the nilgai sits in Schedule II, so it is incorrect. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The two antelopes raid the same fields, so a student may give the nilgai the blackbuck's Schedule; the Act puts them in different lists.

Remember: Blackbuck in Schedule I, nilgai in Schedule II; section 9 bars hunting both.

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