National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank dedicated to nation

: Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan today dedicated to the nation, the National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank in the city.

"So far, genetic resources from 23 species of Indian wild animals have been collected and preserved. This facility would increase the collection of genetic resources from wildlife through collaboration with zoos in India", an official release quoted him as having said.

This facility would also facilitate exchange of genetic material between Indian zoos for maintaining genetic diversity and conservation management made accessible to scientists and wildlife managers for implementing conservation programmes, it said.

The Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) is a dedicated laboratory of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and the only institute in the country working towards conservation of endangered wildlife using modern biotechnologies to save endangered wildlife species of India.

Wildlife Genetic Resource Banking (GRB) is the systematic collection and preservation of tissues, sperm, eggs and embryos, genetic material (DNA/RNA).

It is one of the promising options for future species management of threatened populations that also extends the reproductive life span of individuals beyond their life and prevents the loss of valuable individuals to the gene pool, the release said.

"CCMB-LaCONES is the only laboratory in India that has developed methods for collection and cryopreservation of semen and oocytes from wildlife and successfully reproducing endangered blackbuck, spotted deer and Nicobar pigeons.

Through this work, it has established Genetic Resource Bank for Indian wildlife," the release added.

Harsh Vardhan also took part in another event and flagged off vehicles carrying a batch of mouse deer from the Nehru Zoological Park here, to be reintroduced in the Farahabad Range of Amrabad Tiger Reserve, it said.

The Telangana Forest Department, Central Zoo Authority, Nehru Zoological Park and CCMB have joined hands to conduct the first ever planned reintroduction of the Indian spotted chevrotain (Moschiola indica),also known as Indian mouse deer.

This follows more than seven years of conservation breeding of the elusive species at a dedicated facility in the premises of Nehru Zoological Park, which increased the captive mouse deer population to around 230 individuals till March this year, the release added.