India Sets Global Precedent with Complete Animal Species Inventory

Reported by

Sreeja Ghosh 

In a groundbreaking move, India is set to become the first country in the world to publish a comprehensive checklist of its fauna, detailing the number of animal species found across the nation. The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) will unveil this monumental document on June 30. ZSI Director Dhrithi Banerjee heralds this achievement as a significant milestone, underscoring India's commitment to biodiversity and wildlife conservation. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at this historic development and its global implications.

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is set to celebrate its 109th foundation day on June 30, 2024. Marking this significant milestone, the ZSI has organised the Animal Taxonomic Summit 2024, which will take place from July 1 to July 3. This summit aims to bring together eminent taxonomists, researchers, and scholars from around the globe to discuss and advance the field of animal taxonomy. The celebration not only honours ZSI's long-standing contributions to zoological research but also emphasises the importance of taxonomy in understanding and preserving biodiversity.

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Sri Bhupender Yadav, will be the Special Guest at a significant event where he will launch the Fauna of India Checklist Portal. This pioneering portal, the first of its kind, will provide a comprehensive database covering all faunal species reported from India. The launch marks a major milestone in the country's efforts to catalogue and conserve its rich biodiversity.

Recently in a press conference at Kolkata Press Club ZSI Director Dhrithi Banerjee mentioned that despite advancements in biological research, no country in the world has yet dared to publish a comprehensive checklist of its entire fauna. This ambitious endeavour, which would span from microscopic amoebas to majestic elephants, remains an unfulfilled task. Each has a separate list, such as how many insects there are, how many fish there are, or how many mammals there are. But this complete checklist is published by the first Zoological survey of India in the world and will be updated every year.

Basudev Tripathy, scientist ZSI added that so far 1 lakh 4 thousand animals have been classified by the Zoological Survey of India. However, there are many other animals that we don't know about. What We know is the tip of the iceberg