Project Tiger — Prelims Strategy

Prelims Strategy

For Prelims preparation, focus on memorizing key facts and figures: launch date (April 1, 1973), current number of reserves (53), latest tiger count (2,967 in 2019), NTCA establishment year (2006), and funding pattern (60:40 central-state).

Create a comprehensive list of tiger reserves with their states and unique features - UPSC often tests specific reserve names and locations. Memorize constitutional provisions (Articles 48A, 51A(g), Entry 17A Concurrent List) and key Wildlife Protection Act sections.

Practice elimination techniques by understanding common traps: confusing Project Tiger with Project Elephant funding patterns, mixing up census years and population figures, and incorrectly identifying original vs later-established reserves.

Focus on recent developments like new reserve notifications, M-STrIPES upgrades, and international cooperation initiatives. Use mnemonics for remembering original nine reserves and current challenges.

Pay special attention to technology-related questions as UPSC increasingly tests modern conservation approaches.

Also build Paper II skills

Climate data, pollution metrics, and treaty timelines are natural practice for CSAT data interpretation and careful reading. CSAT hub.

• Data interpretation
• Correlation vs causation
• Estimation techniques