Lalitpur: Have you seen a pair of new “Ban Manchhe” at the zoo? If not, the Central Zoo, Nepal’s oldest zoo, at Jawalakhel has recently brought a pair of Siamang from Malaysia, just for you to have a look.

The pair of Siamangs which are but the large black gibbons were brought from the Zoo Melaka of Malaysia in exchange for a pair of zoo breed sarus crane from Nepal under the animal exchange programme.

Ever since they were brought to the Zoo here, this pair of Siamangs, which evoke some interest among the Nepalese who have only heard of but never seen the ape, have become the centre of attraction. Thousands of people come every day to have a look at this pair of Siamang, one of a rare species of animals in the world.

A lot of visitors come to the zoo especially on government holidays to look at this pair of Siamangs found only in the tropical rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Siamangs were brought here on September 16 under the animal exchange programme of the Central Zoo as per His Majesty’s Government’s decision of May 22 in exchange for a pair of sarus crane. The Central Zoo is managed by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), a non-governmental environmental conservation institution. The management of the zoo was handed over to the trust in 1995 December 29.

The male Siamang is ten years old and the female is nine years old. Not only the Siamangs, an ostrich and other species of rare birds brought along with it have also added to the attraction at the Central Zoo.

All of these new additions at the Central Zoo have been made under the animal exchange programme, a joint project of the Central Zoo and the KMTNC.

Jaya Pratap Rana, member-secretary of KMTNC says priority will be given to keep 80 per cent of the animals found in Nepal at the zoo and talks are being held with other countries to bring lion, chimpanzee and other animals to the zoo in the near future.

A separate five-year master plan has been drafted for improvement of the physical facilities at the zoo, construction of a recreation park and development of the zoo into a research centre. Necessary infrastructure has been prepared for this purpose, Mr. Rana adds.

After the zoo expansion and improvement works are completed as per the new master plan, it will take approximately 2 hours as against the present 50 minutes time required to look about the zoo. Moreover, the zoo will also be developed into a recreational facility for both the visitors and their children.

According to member-secretary Rana, KMTNC is currently engaged in some of the immediate tasks such as construction and repair of the animal cages, cleaning, feeding, vaccinating the wild animals and creating the suitable environment for the particular animals in the zoo.

Not even a single animal at the zoo was found to be suffering from malnutrition and disease in a study conducted by an Australian veterinarians’ team two years back, Mr. Rana says proudly.

Director of the zoo Radhakrishna Shrestha says the zoo expansion and improvement project will require some 600,000 US dollars and international donor agencies are being approached in this regard.

The Central Zoo at Jawalakhel was established in 1962 as a private zoo by the then Rana prime minister Juddha Shumsher J.B.R. and His Majesty’s Government was undertaking its management and maintenance since 1951.

The management of the zoo was later handed over to KMTNC on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Birthday of His Majesty the King for a period of 30 years.

As per the agreement between His Majesty’s Government and KMTNC on the terms of the handover of the zoo management, His Majesty’s Government had been providing a grant assistance of Rs. 6,420,000 to the zoo since then but the government has announced that it would discontinue the funding by the end of the current fiscal year.

This step has compelled the zoo authorities to weigh the option of hiking the entry fee by 50 per cent .

Of all the visitors who come to the zoo, only about 2 per cent are tourists, according to administrative officer of the zoo Achyut Raj Pant. He says tourism can be boosted if more tourists could be attracted to the zoo.

Currently there are 500 animals of some 94 species sheltered in the zoo sprawling on about 6 hectares of land. Out of the 38 endangered species from Nepal 14 have been kept at the zoo.