Consider the following statements: Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect

It was in the vermin schedule, but it is a fruit bat that eats fruit and nectar, not blood.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT (at the time) The Indian flying fox was listed as vermin in Schedule V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, with crows and rats. (The 2022 amendment removed the vermin schedule.)

2. ✗ WRONG It eats fruit, nectar and flowers — and pollinates and spreads seeds. Blood-feeding bats (vampire bats) live only in the Americas.

The idea

“Vermin” was the name for animals in Schedule V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (common crow, fruit bats, mice and rats). They had no protection and could be killed freely. The 2022 amendment cut the schedules from six to four and removed this list.

Fruit bat feeds in orchards → Farmers lose fruit → Law listed it as vermin → But it eats only fruit and nectar → So it also pollinates trees and spreads seeds

Why the others are wrong

(a) Believes the vampire myth.

(b) Believes the vampire myth.

(d) Rejects its (then) vermin status and accepts the vampire myth.

The trap

Being called “vermin” makes the blood-drinking claim feel believable. It was vermin because it raids orchards.

Also know

Bats are the only mammals that truly fly. Fruit bats find food by sight and smell; most small insect-eating bats use echolocation. Vampire bats live only in Central and South America. Fruit bats of this group are the natural carriers of the Nipah virus.