Authorities have closed the Central Zoo in Kathmandu after a dead crow on the grounds tested positive for H5N1 bird flu [1].
The closure of Nepal's only zoo marks a significant escalation in the government's effort to contain a virus that threatens both the agricultural economy and public health. Because the H5N1 strain can potentially mutate to infect humans, officials are treating the surge in cases as a critical containment priority [2, 4].
The virus has caused widespread devastation across poultry farms in the region. To prevent further spread, officials have carried out large-scale culling operations. Reports on the total number of birds killed vary across sources, ranging from over 500,000 [5] to more than 600,000 [2, 3]. One specific report cited 596,000 chickens culled [2], while another indicated the number exceeded 650,000 [5].
Beyond the loss of livestock, the outbreak has impacted the food supply chain. Government agencies have destroyed around 1 million eggs to eliminate potential viral reservoirs [3]. The decision to shut the zoo follows the discovery of the infected crow, as the facility represents a high-risk area for cross-species transmission, especially in a dense urban environment like Kathmandu [1, 4].
Officials said the measures are necessary to stop the virus from spreading to other animal populations and to mitigate the risk of a pandemic mutation [2, 4]. The zoo will remain closed until authorities can ensure the grounds are safe and the risk of transmission is neutralized [1, 4].
“Nepal's only zoo marks a significant escalation in the government's effort to contain a virus.”
The closure of a national landmark like the Central Zoo indicates that the H5N1 outbreak in Nepal has moved beyond manageable farm-level incidents into the wild and urban wildlife populations. The wide variance in culling numbers suggests a rapidly evolving crisis where the scale of the infection is difficult to track in real-time. By prioritizing containment over commerce and tourism, Nepal is attempting to prevent the virus from establishing a permanent urban foothold that could increase the likelihood of human-to-human transmission.
