Department of Zoology

The Department of Zoology came into being after the bifurcation of the Department of Zoology and Entomology in 1972. The Fisheries section of the Department was separated as an independent Department of Fisheries in 1994, which was merged again in 2002 and the Department was renamed as the Department of Zoology and Fisheries. The Department then existed at three centres – in the ground floor of the Biological wing. Small Animal Colony, and Fisheries Research Complex with modern facilities to work in the areas of Fisheries, vertebrate Pest Management, Reproductive Biology, Parasitology and Immunodiagnostics. With the creation of the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in 2006, the Fisheries section and Small Animal Colony have been shifted to that University and the Department has been renamed as the Department of Zoology. At present, the Department exists at the ground floor of the Biological Wing and the second floor of the main building of theCollege of Basic Sciences & Humanities. The Resident Instruction Programme in Zoology comprises undergraduate instruction for the students of College of Agriculture and College of Home Science and post-graduation instruction leading to M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Zoology.

The postgraduate students are trained in Agricultural Ornithology, Rodent Control, Fisheries, Functional Faunal Biodiversity, Reproductive Biology, Parasitology and Immunodiagnostics. At present, the emphasis is on development, commercialization and transfer of technologies for (i) effective, efficient and eco-friendly methods of vertebrate and (non-arthropod) invertebrate pest management, (ii) functional (nutritional , pharmaceutical, and bioindicative) aspects of faunal biodiversity in inland aquatic ecosystems, (iii) Fisheries (iv) Vermicomposting, (v) Reproductive Biology (fertility regulation and use of biomarkers), and (vi) Immunodiagnostics.

The faculty of the Department is actively involved in running several research projects sponsored by different funding agencies like ICAR, UGC, SRTT and Punjab State Govt. besides extending transfer of technology services. The Department is also running Zoological Society, which is a corporate member of the International Society of Zoological Sciences, China.