Zoology Optional UPSC – Zoology Optional Books, and Syllabus for UPSC

Zoology Optional UPSC

Zoology is one of the 48 optional subjects in the UPSC Mains exam. It includes two papers- Paper I and Paper II. Each paper carries 250 marks and contributes a total of 500 marks. The optional paper carries a significant weightage of 500 out of 1750 in the UPSC Mains exam, and that’s why everyone must be very careful while choosing their optional subject. To make things clear and easier for the candidates, here we will be covering the Zoology Optional UPSC syllabus and all the books related to having an effective preparation strategy to ace the optional zoology paper.

Important Topics in Zoology Optional UPSC

• Ecology
• Economic Zoology
• Biostatistics
• Cell Biology:
• Genetics
• Evolution
• Biochemistry

Pros and Cons of Zoology Optional UPSC

Before taking any optional subject, candidates should be aware of their strengths and weakness so they can find an optional subject that is best suited for them. The Pros and Cons of Zoology Optional UPSC will help you decide if zoology would be a good fit for you or not.

Pros of UPSC Zoology Optional

• Zoology is scientific in nature, and that’s why it can be scored. Candidates can fetch good marks in this subject if they present answers neatly and correctly.
• The UPSC zoology optional syllabus is static in nature.
• The questions from the Zoology Optional UPSC are straightforward and direct.
• The competition is less as compared to other Optional Subjects in UPSC

Cons of UPSC Zoology Optional

• Zoology optional is not recommended for all the candidates as it is technical in nature. Only candidates who have studied this subject can go for this optional subject.
• It has minimal overlap with the General Studies papers in the UPSC Mains.
• The UPSC zoology optional syllabus is vast, and you have to study in depth.

UPSC Zoology Optional Syllabus

Those who have made up their mind to opt for Zoology as optional in UPSC must go through the syllabus. They should analyze the Zoology Optional UPSC syllabus in depth and plan to cover the topics in an efficient manager.

☛Zoology Optional UPSC Syllabus PDF

☛Zoology Optional UPSC Syllabus PDF in Hindi

There are two papers in Zoology Optional UPSC, and in the above-given link, we have provided the syllabus for both papers. Additionally, we have mentioned the link to download the syllabus in Hindi as well.

UPSC Zoology Optional Success Rate

Candidates will get a clear picture of the success rate of the optional zoology subject over the years below.

Year	No. of candidates appeared	No. of candidates cleared	Success Rate (%)
2017	55	1	1.8
2016	484	18	3.7
2015	72	5	6.9
2014	79	9	11.4
2013	92	9	9.8

IAS Toppers with Zoology as Optional in UPSC

In the past years, there have been many toppers who have opted for zoology as their optional subject. In the table below, we have covered the names with a rank of the candidates with Zoology Optional.

Name	UPSC Exam Year	Rank
Kajal Jawla	2018	28
Preeti Malik	2016	265
Megha Bhardwaj	2015	32
Rachit Raj	2013	3
Arun Thamburaj	2012	6

Strategy to Prepare for Zoology Optional UPSC

Every subject demands its own preparation strategy. No matter how hard you try, if you don’t take a strategic approach during the preparation, then your hard work might go in vain. Below are some general tips that will help you prepare for Zoology Optional UPSC.

• After going through the syllabus for zoology optional, get a hold of the previous year’s zoology question papers by downloading UPSC Previous Year Question Papers.
• The next step is to gather some basic books like Modern Zoology by Ramesh Gupta or NEET Zoology (Wiley Publications). These basic books will help you to gain a fundamental understanding of topics and explain the topics with a lot of clarity.
• You need to draw diagrams in the exam, or you will end up losing marks. So make sure you practice diagrams as well.

Zoology Optional UPSC Paper I Strategy

• You need to cover the theories of the Chordata and non-Chordata properly.
• The subsection of economic zoology, bio stats, and bio instrumentation are scoring. These are also small topics where the questions can be predictable. Try to fetch maximum marks from these topics by studying thoroughly.
• Focus on developments in India in economic zoology.

Zoology Optional UPSC Paper-II Strategy

• In paper II, questions on peripheral topics are not generally asked.
• Practical biochemical pathways with the structural formula of molecules are very important in Biochemistry. So you need to use flowcharts for this section.
• Organic Evolution (Evolutionary Biology) by Veer Bala Rastogi is the best book for evolution, so try to cover this book. You will find topics from genetics as well in this book.
• Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology is a great book for physiology.
• To tackle the developmental biology practice diagrams.

Best Books for Zoology Optional UPSC

Below, we have mentioned some highly recommended books for zoology optional UPSC by experts and IAS toppers with zoology as optional in UPSC.

• Modern Zoology by Ramesh Gupta
• Ecology And Environment by PD Sharma
• Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology
• Genetics by PK Gupta
• Modern Textbook of Zoology – Invertebrates by RL Kotpal
• Organic Evolution (Evolutionary Biology) by Veer Bala Rastogi
• Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology