[Mission 2024] STATIC QUIZ, 3 November 2023 – Environment

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN’s mission is to “influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable”.

Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through building partnerships.

The organization is best known to the wider public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species worldwide.

IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations and plays a role in the implementation of several international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

IUCN Red List or Red Data List or Red Book

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species.
• The aim of the IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. 
• The pink pagesin this publication include the critically endangered species.
• As the status of the species changes, new pages are sent to the subscribers.
• Green pagesare used for those species that were formerly endangered but have now recovered to a point where they are no longer threatened.
• With passing time, the number of pink pages continue to increase.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

The IUCN Green Status of Species, a new Global Standard to measure how close a species is to being fully ecologically functional across its range, and how much it has recovered thanks to conservation action.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Zoonotic diseases, impact humankind since the beginning of its association with animals. They are also the most numerous ones. Out of all the human disease-causing pathogens identified so far, over 60% are of animal origin. These include the causative agents for several well-known human and livestock diseases such as Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, Anthrax, Leptospirosis, and Rabies.

Though the natural genetic changes that make these pathogens more infectious and lethal are outside our control, several field observations and scientific investigations have established that the increased incidences of zoonotic diseases in recent times are a direct consequence of the ongoing abuse of nature.

Our irresponsible actions such as large scale deforestation and encroachment of pristine natural ecosystems; reckless land-use changes either to enhance agriculture and livestock productions, or to provide land for infrastructure and industrial developments; and unsustainable consumption, coupled with unregulated trade of wildlife and their derivatives, often via a long and unhygienic supply chain, provide the enabling conditions for such disease spillovers.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacteria.
• Affects animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats more often than people.
• People can get anthrax from contact with infected animals, wool, meat, or hides.
• Spread: It does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; it is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or shoes.
• Gastrointestinal (GI) infection in humans is most often caused by consuming anthrax-infected meat and is characterized by serious GI difficulty, vomiting of blood, severe diarrhea, acute inflammation of the intestinal tract, and loss of appetite.
• Cutaneous anthrax, also known as Hide porter’s disease, is the cutaneous (on the skin) manifestation of anthrax infection in humans.