Gir Wildlife Sanctuary is known for the conservation of which of the following…

Many Indian wildlife sanctuaries and national parks are known nationwide for protecting one particular flagship or endangered species that is uniquely tied to that habitat; identifying which animal a sanctuary conserves means matching the region's ecology and conservation history to that one species.

Gir Forest in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat is the last surviving natural habitat of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) anywhere in the world. Sustained protection inside Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park brought this population back from the brink of extinction, which is why "Gir" and the Asiatic lion are treated as synonymous in Indian geography and general-knowledge questions.

Checking each option against Gir's specific conservation history rules out the other animals:

• Elephant — the flagship species of reserves such as Periyar in Kerala and several sanctuaries in the Western Ghats and Northeast, not of Gir.

• Snake — no major Indian sanctuary, including Gir, is primarily notified for snake conservation.

• Rhinoceros — the flagship species of Kaziranga National Park in Assam, an entirely different landscape from Gir's dry deciduous forest.

• Lion — matches Gir's defining conservation identity exactly, confirming it as the animal this sanctuary is known for.

Hence, Gir Wildlife Sanctuary is known for the conservation of the Lion.