. The Central Zoo operated by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) has a total of 1,273 animals of 112 species.

The Sadar TAG_OPEN_span_12 Zoo was established and operated by the then Rana Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Rana in 1989 BS. The zoo was later opened to the public.

According to the zoo administration, the number of animals here fluctuates as they are born new, dyed and brought back from the jungle. The longest-lived elephant in the zoo is 76-year-old Pawan Kali, according to the zoo’s information officer Ganesh Koirala. According to him, the average lifespan of an elephant is 70 to 80 years.

Out of the four tigers in the zoo, the oldest tiger, 15 years old, is Bagaura, said Koirala. According to him, among the three rhinos, the oldest is a 14-year-old male monkey while other animals are of different age groups.

Rats are among the organisms with a short lifespan. The average lifespan of a mouse is five to six years, said Information Officer Koirala. Small animals like rats and rabbits are produced in the zoo and pythons are given once a week as food, he shared.

According to him, the pythons sometimes need to be given natural food, so zoo-produced mice and rabbits are given. For this reason, there is some fluctuation in the number of animals. Doctors have made arrangements to treat the animals in a separate quarantine after they came to know that they were sick.

According to the zoo administration, although some animals breed, the breeding of animals is less as the environment in which most of the animals live is not fully suitable. Naturally, the forest environment is more conducive for them to breed.