India added 709 animal species to its national database in 2025, the highest annual count recorded by the Zoological Survey of India.
The additions include 483 species new to science and 226 species recorded in India for the first time.
Kerala reported the highest number of new animal species, followed by West Bengal, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh.
India’s recorded faunal diversity now stands at 105,953 species and subspecies, about 5.3% of the global total.
India added 709 animal species to its national database in 2025, the highest number recorded in a single year since systematic counting began, according to a new report by the Zoological Survey of India.
The figure includes 483 species new to science and 226 species recorded in India for the first time.
The previous highest annual count was 683 species in 2024.
The findings were released in the report Animal Discoveries: New Species, New Records, during the Zoological Survey of India’s 111th foundation day celebrations.
With the new additions, India’s recorded faunal diversity now stands at 105,953 species and subspecies. The report says this is about 5.3% of the global total of 1,679,523 recorded animal species.
“India is among the world’s richest biodiversity nations,” Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav said while launching the report. He said the work of the Zoological Survey of India had helped the country understand and protect its natural heritage.
ZSI Director Dhriti Banerjee said the findings were “much more than a testimony of taxonomic success”.
“These findings signify knowledge that not only helps improve our understanding of biodiversity, but also serves as a key contribution to global efforts to deal with the biodiversity crisis,” she said, calling for more investment in biodiversity research and capacity-building.
The report was prepared by Banerjee, along with senior scientists C Raghunathan, Anjum N Rizvi and Jayita Sengupta.
Insects accounted for the largest share of newly recorded animal species in India in 2025.
Of the 709 species added, 417 were insects, making up about 59% of the total. Among the 483 species new to science, insects accounted for 295.
Hymenoptera, the group that includes bees, wasps, ants and sawflies, topped the list with 106 species. Lepidoptera, which includes butterflies and moths, followed with 65 records.
Diptera, the group that includes flies and mosquitoes, and arachnids, which include spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites, each accounted for 64 findings.
The report said insects, particularly beetles, moths and bees, represent the highest diversity in India’s faunal registry, while fishes lead among vertebrates.
Kerala recorded the highest number of new animal species in 2025, with 98 additions. It had also topped the list in 2024.
West Bengal followed with 76 species, while Karnataka recorded 67 and Arunachal Pradesh 65.
The findings underline the importance of India’s biodiversity-rich landscapes, including the Western Ghats, eastern Himalayas and coastal and forest ecosystems, which continue to yield new species records.
Experts say such discoveries are important not only for taxonomy, but also for conservation planning, habitat protection and environmental decision-making.
ZSI also launched Version 3.0 of the Fauna of India Checklist, a digital database of India’s recorded animal life.
Banerjee said the checklist was prepared through a collaborative effort involving 185 taxonomic experts. It indexes 105,953 species and subspecies across 121 taxon-specific inventories.
The report said the checklist will be updated annually to make it useful for policymakers, researchers and conservation planners.
The event also saw the launch of the PaleoIndia Portal, developed jointly by ZSI and the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai, using maps provided by the Geological Survey of India.
The portal documents the spatial distribution of fossil fauna across all 28 states and eight Union Territories, and houses information on more than 5,000 animal specimens.
Officials said the portal marks a step towards digital conservation by bringing fossil records into a searchable national database.
During the event, Yadav also referred to the possibility of tiger reintroduction in West Bengal, citing the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan as a model. The minister indicated that the reintroduction could be attempted in Buxa forest in north Bengal, which currently does not have a resident tiger population.
Sariska lost all its tigers by 2008, but the minister said it now has 56 tigers after sustained reintroduction and conservation efforts.
“Sariska stands today as a powerful testament to what sustained scientific management, community participation and political commitment can achieve,” he said.
The minister said the Union government and the West Bengal government were exploring a similar vision for “the land of the Royal Bengal Tiger”.
“With careful scientific planning and in close consultation with experts, efforts are underway to explore the reintroduction of tigers in suitable landscapes, strengthening both biodiversity conservation and ecological security,” he said.
The remarks come as the state’s biodiversity record, including the 76 new species recorded from West Bengal in 2025, places renewed attention on habitat protection and conservation planning.
The ZSI report said India’s expanding biodiversity database is essential at a time when ecosystems are under pressure from habitat loss, climate change, pollution and other human-driven threats.