Northeast has 22.35 percent of the threatened fauna of the country.

This was stated in a book “Faunal Diversity of Biogeographic Zones of India: North-East” brought out by Zoological Survey of India and released yesterday at Shillong.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director of ZSI, spoke of the hard work put in during the compilation of this book, which is a comprehensive and exhaustive account of the faunistic resources of the North-East Biogeographic Zone.

The book reveals that out of 718 threatened species of fauna from the country, 153 species are distributed in this Region, representing about 22.35 percent of the total threatened fauna of India. Six species of Arthropods, 49 species of fishes, six species of amphibians, 17 species of reptiles, 42 species of birds and 33 species of mammals are included in the threatened list. Among the six states, Assam with 100 species has the highest numbers of threatened animals.

The book contains the updated information on the faunal diversity of North-East Biogeographic Zone – comprising of two biotic provinces – the Brahmaputra Valley and North-East Hills. Altogether, 18,527 species of fauna under 15 phyla from Protozoa to Chordata have been documented from the region, representing about 18 per cent of the total fauna known from India. Phylum Arthropoda with 14,956 species represents more than 80 per cent of the overall faunal diversity of this Region.

As regards to the biotic provinces North-East Hills includes 14,838 species, while the Brahmaputra Valley has 8,832 species. State-wise, Meghalaya has 9,853 species, closely followed by Assam with 9,607 species; whereas, Manipur with 5,036 species, Nagaland with 3,869 species, Tripura with 3,605 species and Mizoram with 3,020 species are also documented.

B. K. Lyngwa, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Govt. of Meghalaya and Shri H. C. Chaudhary, Chief Wildlife Warden, Govt. of Meghalaya graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour, respectively.
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The programme was also attended by Dr. Nripemo Odyuo, Officer-in-Charge and other senior scientists from the Botanical Survey of India, Shillong. Faculty members and students from St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, and the headman of Risa Colony, Bah D. M. Pariat.