Kolkata, Jun 29 (PTI) The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Bhutan government on July 1 for collaborative research on red panda.
ZSI director Dhriti Banerjee said on Thursday that the organisation will be signing the MoU with representatives of the Bhutan government for trans-border conservation and genetic profiling of the animal.
Its population is higher in Bhutan than in India, and both countries are active in the conservation of this rare species, the ZSI director said.
In the northern part of West Bengal, there is a very small pocket where red pandas are found, Banerjee said.
The pact will be inked on the occasion of the 108th Foundation Day of ZSI in the presence of Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav.
The ZSI has already got 25 per cent of the funds from the Bhutan government to start work on the conservation of red panda in the Himalayan kingdom, Banerjee said.
“The government of Bhutan has approached India for providing technical expertise as well as collaborative works. It is hence, a trans-boundary programme also… This is probably for the first time, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change is prized with such big deal,” the ZSI director said in a statement.
The ZSI director also said, the celebration of the 108th ZSI Day will pay focus on ‘Mission Life’ (Mission Life-style for Environment), where the country’s apex body on animal taxonomy is going to showcase its efforts in reaching out to the people across the country with message on environment protection.
The union minister will be releasing the Animal Discoveries, 2022, comprising more than 600 new species and new records added to the total list of animals in the country.
He will also release publications on ‘75 wetland fauna of India’ as well as ‘75 endemic birds of India’ to commemorate Azadi ka AmritMahotsav (AKAM). PTI SUS MM
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