BRIEF HISTORY

The Department of Zoology came into existence with the inception of St. Philomena’s College, the first science college of Mysuru in 1946. Prof. V. J. Mathew, a well-known teacher with zeal, enthusiasm and professional perfection established the Department of Zoology, His interest was nurtured, supported and encouraged by the management which became the milestone in the development of the department, He served the department from 1947- 1972.

Prof. V. J. Mathew was followed by another exemplary teacher, Prof. T. R. Balakrishna, who took over as head of the department. Prof. T. R. Balakrishna was an erudite scholar admired by professors of post graduate departments, as he was an authority in the subject.

Then Prof. Daniel Sukumara took over as head of the department. A person with an artistic capability, he and his colleagues prepared hundreds of beautiful, hand drawn colorful charts that was and is been used as the major teaching aids till date.

Prof. Solomon followed the footsteps of his predecessors and was instrumental in the development of the department. All these scholarly men of exceptional academic caliber ensured an enviable stature to the Department of Zoology.

DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

The department is constantly striving its best to achieve excellence in all its activities. They include constant and constructive revision of the curriculum content for best of the development of the students and the stake holders.

The informal attitude of the departmental faculty provides an easy and interactive atmosphere conducive for learning and personality development of students.

Department has adopted blended teaching learning approach along with the implementation of several innovative teaching-learning strategies.Teaching – Learning – Evaluation is carried out with the traditional, modern, latest aids and gadgets – board and chalk, visual methods – charts, pictures, models, PPTs, etc. Periodically students are encouraged to participate in group discussion on the various topics and to present a presentation.

Zoology is best taught in nature and hence the department regularly takes the students on field visits and study trips to various places. The department along with the students also get an opportunity to learn organizational skills during such trips.

Department has introduced vermi-composting for producing organic manure to grow the plants in the campus and has established well maintained beautiful butterfly garden.

 STRENGTHS

Department possesses-

• Experienced and committed faculty.
• Well-equipped and furnished classroom, laboratory and museum with rare specimens.
• ICT enabled gadgets making classes more interesting and interactive.

CHALLENGES

Department ensures-

• To design the curriculum to meet the needs of the students in their career.
• To make responsible, competitive and sensible citizens of India.
• Producing employable students with original ideas, skills and competence.
• Student’s results will be exceptionally good, and the numbers of students scoring high grades has increased significantly over the years.

OPPORTUNITIES

Department promotes-

• The students to develop relationship with institutions of national fame such as CFTRI, DFRL, ZOO etc.
• Students to take up short term inter-disciplinary projects.
• Students to take up higher studies and inculcate  research ideas.

THE DEPARTMENT MUSEUM

The Departmental museum was established in 1946. The departmental museum is renowned in the state. The museum is famed for large number of rare specimen collection. Museum consists of both invertebrates and vertebrates specimens collected from different places. It also holds exotic specimens.

The museum is noted for osteology especially with Mammalian osteology and most of them have been donated by Mr. Van Ingan, a taxidermist of international fame, when he wound up his business in taxidermy.

 The museum has variety of animal models. The specimen bottles in the museum are sprucely arranged in different racks according to their phylum. The osteological specimens are neatly labeled and displayed in a separate section.

Students and staff from various educational institutions have visited the departmental museum and have acclaimed the museum.

DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES

2003-2004

• 7th-8th Aug 2004 – Department organized an UGC Sponsored State Level Seminar on “Biodiversity” Significance and Management – A Challenge for Mankind.

2010-2011

23rd-24th April 2010–Department organized an UGC Sponsored National Level Workshop on “Biosystematics”- Taxonomic Awareness in the Current Biotechnological Scenario.

5th-6th March 2011–Department organized an Scientific Documentation on “Life of Butterflies-For the Need, Process and Importance”

2013-2014

• September 2013-Students were taken on field study to Ranganatittu to study the habit and habitat of the Migratory Birds, Crocodiles and Bats.
• February 2014- Students were taken to ODP in Mysore to study about vermi-composting and it’s management and They were also given hand on experience by the department teachers and experts in vermi-composting.

2014-2015

• Students were taken on field trip to Western Ghats, Sultan Bathery, Edakallu Gudda and were encouraged to learn animal life  in the natural habitat. Provided valuable knowledge and enriched the students in this regard .
• March 21-22, 2015- Department of Zoology conducted a workshop for two days on

“Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation”. The workshop was very interactive and profited many students and scholars, It was lead by Dr.B.A.Daniel from Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore.

• 9th – 11th April 2015-Department conducted a three days International Conference on “Climate Change – Inconvenient Truth”.

2015-2016 

• 3^rd and 4^th August 2015 –Department conducted a two days National level Conference on “Myths and facts about life style diseases”- For healthy living.           

• Students were taken on an educational trip to Muthumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. They were taken on safari to visit the forest and study the behaviour of animals in the wild. Muthumalai Elephant camp where number of activities are performed by tamed elephants, is a popular among tourist attraction. The camp allowed students to watch the way the food being prepared for the elephants and quantity of food being served to the tamed elephants.
• 20th December, 2016 –A short interactive talk on “Importance of Interdisciplinary Research in Science” was convened by the department.

• Students were taken on a study trip to Nisargadama, Abbi falls and Dubare forest to study about the Freshwater habitat and ecosystem (Freshwater body, The study tour gave them an idea of real life experience. They also came across the rich  flora and fauna.

2016-2017 

• 20^th June 2017-Students were taken on field visit to Sri Chamrajendra Zoological gardens to study the behaviour of animals and learn their taxonomical classifications.

• 29^th June 2017-Combined seminar on “Plant and Animal Diseases” was organized by Botany and Zoology. 

2018-2019 

Students were taken to various field studies such as:

• 16^th February 2018- The syllabus of Zoology encloses a DSE paper titled “Animal Husbandry” which has a unit on dairy and cattle management- To provide a practical view on the chapter, students were taken on field visit to Mysore milk dairy to get glimpse on the processing of milk and preparation of milk products.

• 17^th February 2018- Students were taken on field visit to “Regional Museum of Natural History of Mysore”. The museum gave insights about exhibits such as plants, animals and geology of the southern region of India. The galleries emphasized on the conservation of nature and natural resources while depicting ecological inter-relationship among plants and animals.
• 16^th February 2018-2nd semester students who had opted for Economic Zoology DSE paper were taken on field visit to learn about ornamental fishes and their maintenance in Planet Earth Aquarium. 

2019-2020

• 24th August 2019- Students with keen interest were taken in the college campus as a Nature Club activity to learn the morphology of insects and classify different insects to their respective order under Class Insecta, Phylum Arthropoda.
• 6^th July 2020- The Department organized an inauguration of vermi-composting pit to produce organic manure to grow beneficial plants in the college campus.
• 17^th -19^th December 2020- The Department organized educational trip to head quarters of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, where they observed diverse marine flora and fauna, both living and preserved the major attraction of the museum is the marine biodiversity museum which is recognized as “Designated National Repository”  by Government of India.
• 18^th January 2020- The Department of Zoology organized an awareness program on the topic “Havvu Mattu Naavu” to encourage the students to appreciate and learn the significance of snakes in the eco-system.

• 10^th February 2020- The Department of Zoology organized a one day Annual Zoological fest- VIBRANCE, to foster the holistic development of students. Students were encouraged to exhibit their artistic skills through theme based events like poster designing, photography, rangoli, fancy dress, skits etc. They were enriched with resourceful talks on various topics like Zoonotic diseases. The event was graced by the presence of speaker like-Dr. (Captain) Thimmaiah C.P.
• RESEARCH PROJECTS

1	Dr. T. Ruth Shantha Kumari	Ultra structural features of sperm storage tubules in the oviduct of the Indian garden lizard, Calotes versicolor	The Anatomical recordVolume 298(11), Page No. 1932-1937 November 2015
2	Dr. T. Ruth Shantha Kumari	Lipo-polysaccharide Cross-Tolerance Delays Platelet-Activating Factor-Induced Sudden Death in Swiss Albino Mice: Involvement of Cyclo-oxygenase in Cross-Tolerance.	PloS OneVolume 11(4), e0153282. April 2016
3	Dr. T. Ruth Shantha Kumari	Proteinaceous  Sperm  Motility  Inhibitory Factor  From  The Female Indian Garden Lizard  CalotesVersicolor	Reproduction, Fertility And developmentISSN 10313613

 Students   Outcome 

• Students will gain knowledge in the fundamentals of animal sciences.
• Students will be able to understand the complex interactions among various living organisms, evolutionary processes and behaviour of animals.
• Students will be able to correlate the physiological processes of animals and the relationship of their organ systems.
• Students will understand the environmental conservation processes.
• Students would gain knowledge on Agro based small scale industries, where they can have their own footings.
• Students will understand about various concepts of genetics and its significance in human health and for other animals.

DEPARTMENTAL FACILITIES

• ICT enabled Classroom
• Well-equipped Laboratory
• Best maintained Museum
• Variety of Instruments

1.Microscopes   

• Dissection microscope                              
• Compound microscope                            
• Binocular microscope                              
• Trinocular microscope    

2.Centrifuge(4 tubes) & (12 tubes)

3.Micro centrifuge

4.Colorimeter

5.Spectrophotometer

6.Microtome

7.BOD Incubator

8.pH Meter

9. Micro-pipettes

10. Water bath

11. Digital Balance

12. Incubator

PRESENT FACULTY