India Leads the World with Complete Animal Species Checklist
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav Announces at Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024
India has become the first country in the world to prepare a checklist of its entire fauna, covering 104,561 species. This announcement was made by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav during the Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024, organized by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in Kolkata.
The minister launched the Fauna of India Checklist Portal on the occasion of the 109th Foundation Day of ZSI. He emphasized that India is a global leader in biodiversity conservation, with traditions and values that respect nature.
The Fauna of India Checklist Portal is the first comprehensive document on the faunal species reported from India. It includes 121 checklists of all known taxa covering 36 phyla, including endemic, threatened, and scheduled species.
Yadav also highlighted the government’s initiatives like the International Big Cat Alliance and the successful relocation of cheetahs to India. He stressed the importance of sustainable consumption and conservation, aligning with the PM’s Mission LIFE.
The Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024, the second summit organized by ZSI, featured discussions on taxonomy, systematics and evolution, ecology and animal behavior, and biodiversity and conservation. The summit saw participation from 350 delegates from four countries, including the Natural History Museum, London.
During the summit, Yadav released several important publications, including ‘Animal Discoveries-2023’ and ‘Plant Discoveries-2023’. Other notable releases included the ‘Barcode Atlas of Indian Fishes’ and ‘ROAR – Celebrating 50 years of Project Tiger’.
Director General of Forests and Special Secretary, MoEFCC, Jitendra Kumar, launched the ‘International Society of Zoology (ISZ)’ to enhance global understanding and protection of biodiversity. ZSI also exchanged 10 MoUs with various universities and national institutes for better coordination and benefits to the masses.
The event concluded with a cultural performance and was attended by officials, scientists, researchers, and vice-chancellors from various institutions.
