Nepal plans to hand over a zoo project that has been under discussion for nearly a decade to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semi-governmental body that runs the country’s only operating zoo.The government has been setting aside roughly 15 million Nepali rupees ($98,700) a year for a project estimated to cost 10 billion Nepali rupees ($65.8 million), leaving it effectively frozen since its groundbreaking in 2016.The NTNC points to nearly three decades of zoo management experience, international partnerships and fundraising capacity as evidence it is the right fit for the job.Critics, however, point to financial struggles at its existing zoo, a politically controversial leadership appointment, and the death of an endangered red panda as reasons for concern.
KATHMANDU — Nepali officials are preparing to hand over the government’s ambitious new zoo to the country’s leading wildlife conservation body. Whether that body is up to the task is up for debate.
Discussions around the proposed zoo in Suryabinayak municipality in central Nepal, which would span 259 hectares (640 acres) of community-managed forests on the outskirts of Kathmandu, began in 2015. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2016, attended by the then prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli. After that, only limited preparatory work such as fencing and planning documents moved forward.
