"As far as mammals go, I know only one species, Cheetah, that has gone extinct," Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, while admitting that India has poor record on the database of the animal and bird species it has. Ramesh has approved an ambitious plan to translocate Cheetahs from Africa in four different locations --- one each in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and two in Rajasthan.
The Zoological Survey of India and Botanical Survey of India are entrusted with the job to keep record of species in India but they don't have database of more than half of Indian wildlife. "We have never build capacity to have do scientific taxonomy," he minister said.
It has been international organizations such as IUCN, which is now headed by Ashok Khosla and Conservation International, which has provided funds to do research on lost species in India. Read the full report here.
Source: Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi.
