The Department of Zoology was established as a premier centre of teaching and research in animal sciences in 1947 with Dr. M.L. Bhatia as the first head of the department . In 1963, it was recognized as the Centre for Advanced Studies(CAS) and continues to enjoy this status by special assistance of the UGC-SAP program. UGC extended its CAS status in 2011 by providing special assistance for another five years. The department has created a central-instrument facilitythrough the generous support of the University and also from DST-FIST programgrants.

In the 60 years of its existence, the department is credited for producing several post-graduate students and awarding nearly 550 doctoral degrees. Its alumni are doing exceptionally well as teachers and scientists at various universities and research laboratories in India and abroad. At present, the department has 186 M.Sc., 14 M.Phil. &101 Ph.D. students. The academic training imparted to the department’s M.Sc. students, equips them to enter doctoral programs of leading institutes in the country and abroad. The current research and teaching in the Department include various aspects of Animal Physiology,Entomology,Fish Biology,Immunology,Developmental Biology, Cell Signalling, Cell Biology, Radiation Biology, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. Apart from teaching,the faculty has been publishing papers in peer-reviewed research journals. More than 53 papers have been published in last academic years. The department practices interdisciplinary research. Faculty members are presently collaborating with leading institutes of the country like CIFA (NFBSFARA Project), CIFE (DBT Project), CIFRI (NFBSFARA Project), DTU (DBT Project), DCFR, IMTECH, IARI,TERI,NEERI, IGIB, NII, NIHFW, ICGEB, NIT.

Faculty members have received many prestigious awards and honours. In 2007, two faculty members were elected as fellows of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Faculty members are also on the editorial board and/or adhoc reviewers for many prestigious national and international journals and members of project advisory committees (PAC) of DST and DBT. All faculty members have extramural funding for their research projects and the Department has international collaborations with Austria (FAO/IAEA), Germany(DST DAAD) project, Switzerland (Indo-Swiss), Indo-Mexican collaborative Project (DST-CIBNOR), Indo-Norwegian Project (Norwegian Embassy, NTNU), Indo-UK collaborative project (DBT-BBSRC).

The Department has been holding various workshops, symposia, conferences and other teaching courses to provide a platform for scientific exchanges. Keeping pace with time, the faculty members along with fellow colleagues from various colleges of the University revised B.Sc. Zoology (Hons) syllabus in 2003.Department organizes workshops for college teachers to make them adept with current trends in various aspects of animal sciences. Apart from teaching and research, the Faculty members are making substantial contribution to the University system in various capacities. Three faculty members hold senior administrative responsibilities in the University (Director-South Campus, Director-CIC and Dean-Examinations). To further strengthen teaching and research in the Department, an extensive renovation and up-gradation of teaching and research laboratories have been undertaken.

The department has made remarkable strides during the past 60 years and is committed to continue working hard for excellence in Science.