National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are protected areas established to conserve India's biodiversity. A National Park is a reserved area where human activities are completely prohibited except for research and education. Wildlife Sanctuaries allow limited human activities and local communities can sometimes access resources under regulation.
Both are notified under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. National Parks provide the highest level of protection - no grazing, cultivation, or collection of forest products is allowed. Wildlife Sanctuaries offer moderate protection where the Chief Wildlife Warden can permit certain activities.
India has 104 National Parks and over 550 Wildlife Sanctuaries covering about 5% of the country's geographical area. The key difference lies in restrictions: National Parks are more stringent while Sanctuaries allow controlled human interference. SSC CGL regularly asks about famous parks, their locations, animals they protect, and establishment years.
Questions often test which park is famous for which animal - like Kaziranga for one-horned rhinoceros or Gir for Asiatic lions. State-wise distribution is frequently tested, especially parks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam. Tiger Reserves form a special category under Project Tiger (1973) with 53 reserves currently.
Biosphere Reserves represent the highest conservation status covering larger ecosystems.