Which one of the following protected areas is well-known for the conservation of a subspecies of the Indian swamp deer (Barasingha) that thrives well in hard ground and is exclusively graminivorous?

Answer: (a) Kanha National Park

Kanha holds the hard-ground barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi), a grass-only subspecies saved from about 66 animals in 1970.

The idea

Barasingha means “twelve-tined”, for the many points on its antlers. Most swamp deer live in marshy grassland. One subspecies, saved in Kanha and reintroduced elsewhere, lives on firm ground in sal-forest meadows and eats only grass. “Graminivorous” in the question simply means grass-eating.

1970: only about 66 left in Kanha → Villages moved out of the core → Meadows managed for grass; predator-proof enclosure for breeding → Numbers recover to several hundred → Some shifted to Satpura and Bandhavgarh as a back-up

Why the others are wrong

(b) Manas has the eastern (wetland) swamp deer, not the hard-ground form.

(c) Mudumalai has no barasingha.

(d) Tal Chhapar (Rajasthan) is famous for blackbuck.

The trap

“Swamp deer” makes you look for a wetland park. This subspecies lives on hard ground.

Also know

Deer of India at a glance. Barasingha: three subspecies, in the terai (Dudhwa), central India (Kanha) and Assam (Kaziranga, Manas). Sambar: the largest. Chital: the most common. Hangul or Kashmir stag: Dachigam, Critically Endangered. Sangai: Keibul Lamjao, Manipur. Hog deer and barking deer (muntjac): small forest deer. Musk deer: high Himalaya, no antlers. Mouse deer: the smallest, not a true deer. Deer have antlers, shed every year; antelopes such as blackbuck, nilgai and chinkara have permanent horns.