Natural History Museum, Pokhara, Gandaki Nepal

The Natural History Museum is in the Prithivi Narayan University campus east of the old bazaar. This museum, also known as Annapurna Regional Museum, is devoted to the natural history of the Pokhara region and has an amazing collection of butterflies, insects, birds and models of wildlife found in this region. The museum opens from 9 am to 5 pm from Sunday to Thursday and from 9 am to 12.45 pm on Fridays. There is no entry fee but donations are appreciated.

Annapurna Natural History Museum (ANHM) is located within the compound of Prithivi Narayan Campus of Pokhara, a unique museum that offers a rare collection of nearly 90% of the 640 species of butterflies found in Nepal. Beside such a precious collection of butterflies, this museum does offer a large collection of wildlife, plants, insects and birds found in Nepal. The museum was established in 1965 with the purpose of drawing students and visitor’s attention towards the diverse of Nepal’s flora and fauna. The museum attracted the attention of some well known scholars and well wishers alike. Among them the names of Dorothy and Colin Smith are unforgettable. The large collection of butterflies in the museum has much scientific importance and attracted so much attention that this museum was nicknamed “The Butterfly Museum.” Butterflies have been duly categorized in different environments and climates. The museum also has an interesting collection of various species of moths and tropical insects.