Tribhuvan University (TU) was established in 1959 as a pioneering institution of higher education in Nepal. Named after the late King Tribhuvan, TU Central Campus is situated in Kirtipur area; a small ancient town located five kilometers away from downtown of Kathmandu. Following the norms of second democratic movement, the Prime-Minister of Nepal is now the Chancellor of the University while the Minister of Education is the Pro-chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor is the principal executive of the University who is assisted by Rector in academic programs and Registrar in financial management and general administration.

TU has five technical institutes, each headed by the Dean. Among them, Institute of Science and Technology (IOST) has been established with the objective to improve academic and research programs in basic sciences. Central Department of Zoology (CDZ) is one of the 13 Central Departments under IOST.

The Central Department of Zoology was established in 1965 AD. Professor Shiva Shankar Singh was the first Head of the Department and other faculty members at the time of establishment were Professor D. R. Uprety, Professor K. M. Bajracharya, Professor Y. K. Malla, Professor C.P. Gorkhali and Professor J. Shrestha. Since then, there has been a series of new appointments. Visiting Professors from India under the Colombo Plan played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the Department.

Till today, over thousand high level manpower of Zoology are produced from CDZ. Mostly they have been working in various fields of Zoology such as biodiversity conservation and management, health etc in governmental and non-governmental institutions.

Nepal is the land of paradise for naturalists and explorers. Many unexplored areas and fields are still to be investigated. Demand of sustainable use of natural resources, conservation and management of wildlife and future threats of human and their activities toward different threatened species of plants and animals are the burning issues in present context.

There are four major specializations: Ecology, Entomology, Fish and Fisheries and Parasitology at M.Sc. level. Ph.D. Programs have been running with improved research facilities at the department. The upgraded syllabus of M.Sc. has been made more practically feasible. The basic research infrastructure has been improved greatly following recent development of the fully equipped laboratories. Till the date, more than 800 M.Sc. and 11 Ph.D. theses have been awarded in Zoology from the University.