The Kabul Zoo is experiencing a sharp annual rise in visitors as over 1,500 visitors on weekdays and nearly 5,000 over weekends come to see the animals, say officials

The income from the zoo, the only one in the country, has increased by up to 40 percent over the past three months – compared to the 12 months of last year.

Mostly families come to visit the Kabul Zoo which hosts nearly 600 animals.

"It is the Ramazan month. We are students, we study and then want to refresh our minds by visiting such places," said Yalda, a school student.

Another student said: "We came here. It was a fun."

"Such places should be built in other areas as well to make it easy for the citizens to spend their time having fun," said Nadir, a Kabul resident.

According to officials, up to 700,000 people visited the zoo this year, adding 17 million Afghanis to its income.

"We are trying to apply a better design for the zoo to enable the spectators to see the animal more easily," said Aziz Gul Saqib, head of the Kabul Zoo.

According to Saqib the zoo has earned nearly 7 million Afghanis over the past three months.