On 30th June 2024, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) launched the ‘Fauna of India Checklist Portal,’ the 1st comprehensive document on the faunal species reported from India.
- The checklist was launched during the event organised to mark the celebration of the 109th Foundation Day of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in Kolkata, West Bengal.
- With this, India becomes the 1st country to prepare a comprehensive checklist of its entire fauna, covering 1,04,561 species.
About the Checklist:
i.The checklist includes 121 lists of all known taxa covering 36 phyla, including endemic, threatened, and scheduled species.
ii.This checklist will act as a reference for taxonomists, researchers, academicians, conservation managers, and policymakers.
Foundation of ZSI:
ZSI was established on 1st July 1916 to promote survey, exploration and research leading to the advancement in our knowledge of various aspects of the rich life of the erstwhile ´British Indian Empire´
- 1st July 2024 marks the 109th Foundation Day of ZSI.
Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024:
On 30th June 2024, The Union Minister inaugurated the Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024, the 2nd summit organised by the ZSI. The 3-day summit concluded on 3rd July 2024.
- During the event, Jitendra Kumar, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary, MoEF&CC, launched the ‘International Society of Zoology (ISZ)’ to enhance global understanding and protection of biodiversity.
Highlights:
i.The summit featured discussions under 3 broad themes, Taxonomy, Systematics, and Evolution; Ecology and Animal Behaviour; and Biodiversity and Conservation.
ii.Around 350 delegates from 4 countries, including those from the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, the United Kingdom (UK) participated in the summit.
iii.The ZSI exchanged 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with universities/colleges and national institutes for enhanced collaboration.
- Universities/colleges: Vidyasagar University (West Bengal), Berhampur University (Odisha), Madurai Kamraj University (Tamil Nadu), Himalayan University (Arunachal Pradesh), Ferguson College (Maharashtra) and Kongunadu Arts & Science College (Tamil Nadu)).
- National institutes: Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR)-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR); ICAR -National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR); ICAR- Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA); and Birla Institute of Technology And Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani), Rajasthan
Animal Discoveries 2023 and Plant Discoveries 2023:
During the event, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched
- ‘Animal Discoveries–2023’ of ZSI, comprising 641 new animal species discovered published by scientists and experts from India during 2023.
- ‘Plant Discoveries-2023’ of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), comprising 339 taxa discovered in 2023.
Points to note:
i.641 new species added to Indian fauna include 442 entirely new species and 199 species which have been newly recorded in India.
ii.339 taxa added to the Indian plant database include 326 species, 13 infraspecific taxa. 171 plant taxa are new to science, and 168 are new distributional records.
Note: A taxa can refer to a sub-species or variety of plant species.
State-wise Discoveries:
i.Most of the new animal discoveries were reported from southern India. Kerala topped the list in animal discoveries with 101 additions (74 completely new species, 27 new records).
- It is followed by West Bengal with 72 new species and Tamil Nadu with 64.
ii.Most new animal species were invertebrates (564), with insects dominating (369). Among vertebrates (77 total), fish species (47) were the majority.
iii.West Bengal recorded the highest number of new plant discoveries with 52 new taxa, followed by Kerala and Uttarakhand.
- New plant discoveries include potential horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants such as begonias, legumes, etc.
Note: 14% of total discoveries are contributed by the hotspot regions such as Western Ghats, and North Eastern Regions.
Other noted Launches:
Noted Launches:
i.Union Minister launched Current Status of faunal diversity in Lakshadweep’; ‘Fauna of India–109 barcodes’; ‘Catalogue of Hoverflies’; ‘Catalogue of Muscidae’, ‘Avifaunal Diversity of Important Bird Areas of Goa’ and ‘Handbook on Moths and Butterflies of Western Ghats’; and ‘Flora of India Series’.
ii.Other noted releases include:
- The 1st ever ‘Barcode Atlas of Indian Fishes’- a joint publication by the ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and ZSI, Kolkata.
- ‘ROAR – Celebrating 50 years of Project Tiger,’ a book written by Shiladitya Chaudhury and Ketan Sengupta.
Recent Related News:
The ZSI published the 1st of its kind book titled “An Illustrated Guide to the Lepidoptera of India: taxonomic procedures, family characters, diversity and distribution’.
About the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI):
Director– Dhriti Banerjee
Headquarters– Kolkata, West Bengal
Established in 1916
