Question

1. Read the passage carefully. As climate change, pollution, loss of wild areas and poaching threaten our wild. The plight of mega- herbivores such as elephants and rhinos has become particularly poignant and tragic. If in India, habitat loss and fragmentation have threatened their survival, in African countries militarized poaching and criminal trade are driving them to extermination. We are witnessing an illicit wildlife trade that is worth anything between hundreds of millions of dollars to $5 billion – placing it in fourth place after drugs, weapons trafficking and human trafficking on the transnational crimes scenes. A shocking 24,000 elephants were killed in 2015 and 1,342 rhinos were poached in the same year. The cost of a kilogram of ivory has reportedly shot up from $750 in 2010 to $2100 in four years. Rhino horn is sold at $29000 a kilogram. At this rate, the African elephant might well go the way of the mammoth in less than 20 years – hunted out of the existence. Rhinos too seem to be on their way out. As many as 183 nations have signed the convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) but that appears to mean little in terms of effectively addressing the tragedy. While there is a dire need for the better protection, monitoring and equipping guards to manage the supply side of this horrendous trade and addressing the demand side of this equation is of equal importance. The smuggling routes of these criminal syndicates, operating between Africa and Asia, needs greater discussion. Social media platforms like WeChat and Facebook are used to openly sell smuggled wildlife parts. Even bank transfers form part of the transactions and account numbers are flaunted explicitly on social media sites. In the one year that WJC did its investigation, illegal trade to the tune of $53.1 million had taken place in Vietnam, involving rhino horn, ivory and tiger parts. Rhino horn constituted the largest component of the trade – worth $42 million. While it is used as an ingredient in traditional medicine, the horn, bangles and cups made from it – has become a status symbol and a sure sign of wealth. Complete the sentences given below on the basis of your reading of the passage. i) The reasons of extermination of mega herbivores in African countries are--------------- ii) Cost of a kilogram of ivory has increased to--------------------------- iii) Even social sites are used for----------------------------- iv) Similar meaning word of ‘ Fearful’ (in Para 3) is-------------------- v) Find (in Para4) antonym word of ‘modern’-----------------------------

Answer 1

1. Militarized poaching and criminal trade.

2. $750 to $2100

3. Smuggling

4. Horrible

5. Latest