Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)
Definition
India's primary national natural history collection and taxonomic research institution, providing comparative specimens and taxonomic expertise for wildlife forensic identification in South Asian enforcement cases.
- Type
- National natural history and taxonomic institution
- Country
- India
- Forensic role
- Comparative specimens and taxonomic expertise
- Case use
- Wildlife species identification for enforcement
Common questions
What kind of forensic requests go to ZSI rather than a standard crime lab?+
Cases needing species-level identification of seized wildlife parts, such as skins, bones, feathers or scales, are referred to ZSI taxonomists because a general forensic lab does not hold the reference collections needed for morphological comparison.
How does ZSI's role differ from a DNA-based wildlife forensic lab?+
ZSI primarily supplies morphological and taxonomic reference material and expert opinion, which complements rather than replaces molecular identification when tissue is degraded or a DNA reference sequence is unavailable.
Related terms
- Barcode of Life Database (BOLD)
- An online reference library of DNA barcode sequences (primarily COI gene) linked to voucher specimens in natural history collections. Used to identify...
- Database Gap
- The absence of morphological reference data or molecular barcode sequences for the taxa encountered in trade, particularly tropical invertebrates, many freshwater fish,...
- Reference Slide Library
- A curated collection of prepared microscopy slides (hair scale casts, feather cross-sections, bone histology sections) from verified species, maintained for comparison against...
- USFWS National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory
- The US federal wildlife forensics laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. Holds over 40,000 reference specimens and provides identification services for US enforcement cases...
- Voucher Specimen
- A preserved specimen formally deposited in a collection or retained in the case file as a permanent reference. In forensic entomology, the...