Before the establishment of the Natural History Museum (NHM), specimens collected by foreign scientific expeditions were allowed to be taken out of the country for lack of a proper repository facility in Nepal. As a consequence, much of the scientific research done in the Natural History of Nepal was taking place in other countries. Nepali scientists, students, and teachers had limited access to the information on their own country's natural inheritance. During this period, Nepali students in natural sciences studied systems in other parts of the world, but remainded alienated to the unique natural systems exiting in their own country. From this situation, the need for the Nepali Natural History Museum was recognized. The objective of the museum was to serve as a research and education facility in Nepal for foreign and Nepali scientists, students and teachers.

NHM was established in 1975. It is managed under Tribhuvan University Rector's Office. The museum i sbuilt on th eformer Ananda Kuti Campus grounds. In the beginning, the museum had a few donated specimens of birds and butterflies. Today, the museum houses about 40,000 zoological specimens, 7,000 botanical specimens, 400 fossils and 100 skeletons In the future, the museum hopes to expand the physical facilities of NHM, as the exhibition hall is becoming quite crowded as the collection grows.