India Launches World’s First Checklist Of All Its Fauna

KOLKATA, (IANS) – India has become the first country to prepare World’s First Checklist of its entire 104,561 fauna species, making it a global leader in biodiversity documentation. The Fauna of India Checklist Portal was launched to mark the 109th Foundation Day of the Zoological Survey of India. This is the first comprehensive document on the faunal species reported from India. The portal aims to be an invaluable reference for taxonomists, researchers, academicians, conservation managers, and policymakers.

The portal comprises 121 checklists and includes “endemic, threatened, and scheduled species.” The World’s First Checklist showcases about 455 mammalian species in India. Meghalaya (163 species) reported the highest number of species, while Kerala (134) reported the lowest. Among the Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (68), Ladakh (59), and Delhi (38) have the highest mammalian diversity.

About 52 mammal species were listed as endemic to India, with Tamil Nadu (23 species), Karnataka (19), and Kerala (19) having the highest presence. The list also includes 1,358 bird species, of which 79 have been listed as endemic.