Zoological Survey of India

Government of India organization

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Zoological Survey of India

Abbreviation| ZSI
Formation| 1 July 1916; 108 years ago (1916-07-01)
Type| Government agency
Purpose| Animal taxonomy and conservation
Headquarters| Kolkata
Location|

* West Bengal, India

Region served

| India

Director

| Dr. Dhriti Banerjee

Parent organisation

| Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Budget| ₹129.35 crore (US$15 million) (2025–26)[1]
Website| zsi.gov.in

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India as a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, exploration and research of the fauna in the country.

## History

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Indian Gaur (Bos gaurus) the mascot of ZSI. Source: ZSI library painting collection

The annals of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)[2] reflect an eventful beginning for the Survey even before its formal birth and growth. The history of ZSI begins from the days of the Asiatic Society of Bengal founded by Sir William Jones on 15 January 1784. The Asiatic Society of Bengal was the mother institution not only to the Indian Museum (1875) but also to the institutions like the Zoological Survey of India and the Geological Survey of India. ZSI's establishment was in fact a fulfillment of the dream of Sir William Jones, the founder of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, whose vision encompassed the entire range of human knowledge. The Asiatic Society had started collecting zoological and geological specimens since 1796 and set up a museum in 1814. Nathaniel Wallich, the first Superintendent of the "Museum of the Asiatic Society", was in charge of the increasing collections of Geological and Zoological specimens; he had augmented the animal collections to the Zoological Galleries of the Museum.

The genesis of the ZSI was in 1875 with the opening of the Indian Museum. The new museum on its inception comprised only three sections: the Zoological, the Archaeological and the Geological. The zoological collections of the Asiatic Society of Bengal were formally handed over to the board of trustees of the Indian Museum in 1875.

Zoological Section of the Museum during the period from 1875 to 1916 steadily expanded, growing to the greatest collection of natural history in Asia. By the care and activity of the Curators of the Asiatic society of Bengal and the Superintendents of the Indian Museum, viz., John McClelland, Edward Blyth, John Anderson, James Wood-Mason, Alfred William Alcock and finally Thomas Nelson Annandale and his colleagues, the museum was richly endowed with a magnificent collection of animals, especially of the larger vertebrate groups. Further additions of both land and aquatic fauna to the valuable collections came through during several political and military expeditions, including a number of collections purchased, notably those of Francis Day of Indian Fishes, Lionel de Nicéville of butterflies, Dudgeon and Edward Ernest Green of moths, Jacob R. H. Neervoort van de Poll of beetles and Godwin Austen of mollusks.[3]

The Zoological Gallery at the Asiatic society Museum under the care and charge of Nathaniel Wallich served the impetus for the formation of the Zoological Survey of India, which was later born as an independent organization on 1 July 1916. The excerpt from the ‘Constitution of the Zoological Survey of India’, released by the Government of India, Department of Education, Resolution no. 19-Museum, dated Shimla, 20 June 1916, states: "In March 1913, the Chairman of the Trustees of the Indian Museum forwarded a representation from the Superintendent of the Zoological and Anthropological Section of the Museum regarding the recognition of the Zoological Section as Zoological Survey. The Government of India, who had already under consideration the desirability of establishing on a sound basis a Zoological Survey of India, informed the Trustees of the Museum that they would be prepared to consider a scheme for such a survey on lines somewhat similar to the existing Botanical Survey of India and asked to furnish with the necessary details. The trustees accordingly submitted their proposals at the end of September 1913."

Thomas Nelson Annandale, who joined the Indian museum as Deputy Superintendent (1904), and later as the Superintendent (1907), after years-old struggle, achieved his aim in establishing the Zoological survey of India, and became its founder director and continued until his premature death in April 1924. Dr. Annandale was Honorary Secretary to the Trustees of the Indian Museum for several years; he was also the President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1923.[4]

Dhriti Banerjee became the very first women director of ZSI since its inception in 1916.

View of ZSI Headquarters, Kolkata in 1986 View of ZSI, Kolkata in 2015. The sculpture "Jeevandhara" in the foreground View of Fire Proof Spirit Building, Indian Museum, Kolkata View of ZSI corridor at Kolkata View of Kolkata City from ZSI

## Divisions and sections at headquarters

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### Divisions & Sections

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### Regional Centers

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* North Eastern Regional Centre (NERC), Shillong, Meghalaya (Estd. 1959).
* Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune, Maharashtra (Estd. 1959).
* Central Zone Regional Centre (CZRC), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (Estd. 1960).
* Desert Regional Centre (DRC), Jodhpur, Rajasthan (Estd. 1960).
* Northern Regional Centre (NRC), Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand (Estd. 1960).
* Southern Regional Centre (SRC), Chennai, Tamil Nadu (Estd. 1961).
* Gangetic Plains Regional Centre (GPRC), Patna, Bihar (Estd. 1965).
* High Altitude Regional Centre (HARC), Solan, Himachal Pradesh (Estd. 1968).
* Marine Biology Regional Centre (MBRC), Madras, Tamil Nadu (Estd. 1973).
* Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre (ANRC), Port Blair (Estd. 1977).
* Freshwater Biology Regional Centre (FBRC), Hyderabad, Telangana (Estd. 1979).
* Sunderbans Regional Centre (SRC), Canning, West Bengal (Estd. 1979).
* Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC), Ganjam, Orissa (Estd. 1980).
* Western Ghats Regional Centre (WGRC), Kozhikode, Kerala (Estd. 1980).
* Arunachal Pradesh Regional Centre (APRC), Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (Estd. 1983).
* Marine Aquarium Cum Regional Centre (MARC), Digha, West Bengal (Estd. 1989).

## National zoological collections

[edit]

The Survey acquired the zoological collections of more than a century old from the former museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the zoological section of the Indian Museum (1814–1875) in Calcutta.

## Publications

[edit]

* Records of the Zoological Survey of India[5]
* Memoirs of Zoological Survey of India[6]
* Occasional Papers[7]
* Fauna of British India[8]
* Fauna of India[9]
* Annual Report since 1961–62
* State Fauna Series (20 States)[10]
* Conservation Area Series[11]
* Ecosystem Series[12]
* Wetland Series[12]
* Estuarine Series[12]
* Marine Series[12]
* Himalayan Series[12]
* Animal Discoveries (New species and New records)
* Handbooks/Pictorial Guides[13]
* Special Publication Series[14]
* Status Survey of Threatened Animals[15]
* Bibliography of India Zoology (Discontinued)
* Zoologiana (Discontinued) Vol. 1–5[16]
* Technical Monograph (Discontinued) Vol. 1–17[17]
* Bulletin of ZSI Vol. (Discontinued) Vo. 1–8[18]

## ZSI library

[edit]

The library in Kolkata and regional centers have a total collection of approximately 1,35,000 volumes, which includes books, journals, monographs, reports of expeditions and fauna surveys, periodicals and other archaic literature on Zoology.[19] The Kolkata library has around 400 titles of rare books. Some of the notable documents include the original publications of Carl Linnaeus and Fabricius, original paintings and drawings of renowned scientists, biogeographers and naturalists.[20]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Sir William Jones

* John Anderson

* Bust of John Anderson at Indian Museum

* Alfred Alcock

* Portrait of Nelson Annandale by ZSI Artist

* Beetle specimens at Coleoptera Section, Kolkata

* Idea sula sula specimen at Central Entomology Laboratory, ZSI, Kolkata

* Coral at Marine Museum, ZSI, Chennai

* ZSI Library collection:Painting of Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) by ZSI artist

* ZSI Library collection: A view of manuscript collection

## See also

[edit]

* List of zoo associations
* Botanical Survey of India (BSI)
* Forest Survey of India (FSI)
* Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
* Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON)
* Survey of India (SI)
* Geological Survey of India (GSI)
* Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI)

## References

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1. ^ "DEMAND NO. 28, Demands for Grants, 2025-2026, MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE" (PDF). IndiaBudget.gov.in. New Delhi. 1 February 2025. p. 5. Retrieved 1 February 2025.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. ^ Zoological Survey of India-History and Progress 1916-1990 (1990). Edited by Director, Zoological Survey of India. Published by ZSI, Kolkata.109pp.
3. ^ India, Zoological Survey of (1977). Newsletter - Zoological Survey of India. Zoological Survey of India.
4. ^ India, Zoological Survey of (1999). Annual Report on the Zoological Survey of India for the Year ... Manager of Publications, Civil Lines.
5. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
6. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
7. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
8. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
9. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
10. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
11. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
12. ^ a b c d e "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
13. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
14. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
15. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
16. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
17. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
18. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
19. ^ "Zoological Survey of India | Digital archives of their Publications". faunaofindia.nic.in.
20. ^ WB Publinet

## External links

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* Media related to Zoological Survey of India at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (India)

Authorities|

* Central Zoo Authority of India
* National Biodiversity Authority
* National Tiger Conservation Authority

Agencies|

* Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation
* Animal Welfare Board of India
* Botanical Survey of India
* Central Pollution Control Board
* Forest Survey of India
* Zoological Survey of India
* Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

Institutions|

* Centre for Environment Education
* Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
* Indian Institute of Forest Management
* Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions
* National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management
* National Forest Academy
* Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding
* National Institute of Animal Welfare
* National Museum of Natural History
* Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History
* Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute
* Wildlife Institute of India

Tribunal|

* National Green Tribunal

Legislation|

* Indian Forest Act, 1927
* National Green Tribunal Act
* Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
* Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002

Special projects|

* Cheetah reintroduction in India
* Project Dolphin
* Project Elephant
* Project Tiger

Civil Service|

* Indian Forest Service

Minister|

* Rajiv Gandhi
* Bhajan Lal
* Ziaur Ansari
* V. P. Singh
* Nilamani Routray
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Jai Narain
* Saifuddin Soz
* H. D. Deve Gowda
* Suresh Prabhu
* T. R. Baalu
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Ramesh Bais
* A. Raja
* Manmohan Singh
* M. Veerappa Moily
* Harsh Vardhan
* Prakash Javdekar
* Bhupender Yadav (incumbent)

Minister of state|

* Vir Sen
* Ziaur Ansari^
* Sumati Oraon
* Maneka Gandhi^
* Kamal Nath^
* Rajesh Pilot^
* Jai Narain
* Babulal Marandi
* Dilip Singh Judeo
* Ramesh Bais
* Namo Narain Meena
* S. Regupathy
* Jairam Ramesh^
* Jayanthi Natarajan^
* Prakash Javdekar^
* Anil Madhav Dave^
* Mahesh Sharma
* Babul Supriyo
* Kirti Vardhan Singh (incumbent)

^independent charge

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* United States
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Academics|

* CiNii

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* IdRef

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