Question

Number of National parks currently operating in India are
(a) 67
(b) 78
(c) 166
(d) 108

Answer 1

Hint: A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes, created and guarded by national governments. Often it's a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares as its own or owns. National parks are almost always open to visitors.

Complete step by step answer:
A park in use for conservation purposes is understood as a park. It's basically a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares as their own or owns. Currently, in India, we've 166 national parks. Only 5 were there in 1970.
So, the correct answer is, ‘166.’

Additional Information: Zoological/botanical garden is excluded under in situ conservation. In India, ecologically unique and biodiversity-rich regions are well protected by the government forest authorities as biosphere reserves, national parks, and sanctuaries. Consequently, India now has 14 biosphere reserves at present, ninety national parks, and four hundred and forty-eight wildlife sanctuaries. When we conserve and protect the whole ecosystem, its biodiversity at all its levels get protected, e.g., we save the entire forest as a measure to save the tiger. This approach is called in situ (on-site) conservation.
However, when situations arise where a plant or animal is endangered or threatened and needs immediate measures to save it from getting extinct and vulnerable, ex-situ (off-site) conservation is the apt approach. Thus ‘in situ conservation’ includes the protection and conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats while maintaining and recovering this viable population of the species in their natural surroundings itself. Sacred groves come under in situ conservation. Other examples include
national parks, biosphere reserves, sanctuaries etc.

Note:
- Biggest National Park of India:
The Sundarbans are the area of the world's largest delta formed, which are made by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna.
- Conservation biology is the mission-oriented science that focuses on the way to protect and restore biodiversity or the range of life on Earth. Like medical research, conservation biology deals with issues where quick action is critical and therefore the consequences of failure are great. It includes two forms like in-situ and ex-situ conservations.