Climate change impact on animals in Himalayas to be recorded by ZSI

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) on 29 June 2016 started five long-term monitoring plots in the Himalayas to document the impact of climate change on animal world. The project is funded by the Union Ministry for environment, forest and climate change. Under the project, ZSI will monitor indicators in species like fish, butterflies, bees and other insects to find how their distribution has been

affected by climate change.

Project Execution

• The collected data on the distribution of species will be compared with the old records that are available with ZSI. 

• This comparison will allow the team of ZSI to depict the impact of climate change in their survival.

The Project

• The project will run for three years in West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

• More than two crore rupees have been earmarked for the project.

• In 2015, 262 new animal species were discovered from India out of which 70 have been credited to ZSI scientists.

• As on 31December 2015, India is home to 94515 species from the animal Kingdom.