I am 20. I thought I was a grown-up, until today, who did not have time and an interest to visit a zoo. I mean, only children and their parents go to such boring places. But I could not discard the family gathering and thus, I went. The last time I had been there was on March 2013. I expected some changes. But even in about 3 years, hardly anything changed there.

The same crowd of people was there to have a family time. The same old school students were playing there to see the same old animals lying in dirt behind bars. The same old birds were cooing inside cages. The same old elephant was carrying people on its back. In fact, it had gotten older. (The same old elephant was being hit with a big, fat stick by the Mahaut on their way back to the zoo with a big pile of fodder). The same old disgusting stench-filled air was forcing people to skip animals and search for a better place to catch their breath.

I hoped to see some new animals and birds. I was excited! But all in vain! I had heard that a red-panda was brought there recently. We searched for it. We ran here and there and finally saw the board with its name outside a cage from a distance. We were happy having finally found the place.

We rushed closer to the cage…but there was nothing except some logs and small trees. We made a round of the cage trying to get a single glance of the animal. We waited and waited. But nothing showed up. It added to the disappointment.

I have been to the zoo a number of times but it was the first time I went to the ladies’ room in there. I was astonished by the long queue. It was so long that I almost dropped the idea of going in there. And I got to know that there was only one bathroom - something that I least expected. People in the queue were heard complaining.

On our way back, I saw something heart-rending for the first time in my zoo visits. A hippopotamus came near to the people and was opening it mouth hoping people would put something in it. More than that, it was crying…literally. It touched me so much emotionally and made me so infuriated that I wanted to go to the authority and shout at their face. But I did not know the right place to go to and I changed my mind.

The Central Zoo, the one and only zoo in Kathmandu attracts a lot of local and foreign tourists daily. They go there to see the creation of nature and enjoy the fauna out there. But the way things are, it is ruining everything.