On February 19, the Central Zoo held an inaugural ceremony of Field Marshall Sir John Chapple Education Centre. The ceremony was inaugurated by Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister for Forest and Environment and Chairman of National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). Meanwhile, the British Ambassador to Nepal, Richard Morris represented Sir John Chapple. Prominent attendees included Dr. B.N. Oli, Secretary, Ministry of Forest and Environment, Dr. Chiranjibi Prasad Pokhrel, Project Manager of NTNC, Central Zoo and Jyoti Prakash Pandey, CEO of Nepal Investment Bank.
Central Zoo observed 1,159,114 visitors in fiscal year 2016/17. The membership based program ‘Friends of Zoo’ which is conservation education related program for school children has a membership of about 80,000 students from 123 schools inside the Kathmandu valley. Given these data, Central Zoo is keen on improvising existing tools of interactive media, audio-visual system, bio-facts and preserved specimen that would not only enhance the visitor experience but also prove to be an effective research tool.
