Wednesday December 27, 2017
Kabul (BNA) Aziz Gul Saqeb, head of Kabul Zoo said that zoo is not only a recreational place for the people, but it’s also a scientific and research center. “The Kabul Zoo was ruined in the past, but with the establishment of elected government, and as a result of the authorities’ efforts in 2005, the Kabul Zoo once again was rebuilt, and until now, the construction work of this zoo is continuing,” Saqeb says. “Fortunately, in 2005, the Kabul Zoo has achieved the membership of South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation (SAZARC), we got this membership with a lot of advertising and efforts and our staff learned how to design cages, and they were trained how to feed animals and taking care of them, he added.”
At the moment, the staff of this center have gained a lot of experiences with the membership of this organization and by receiving this experience the animals are protected and fed in a standard form like other animals around the world. Currently, the ECO organization donated 1.3 million dollar to Kabul zoo, which has been spent in various parts of the zoo, such as the construction of a protection walls, a clinic for animals, an administrative office, green house, a restaurant, construction of cages, power system, water supply system, and so far it’s work is continuing, Saqeb went on to say.
According to his information, after achieving membership of SAZARC, the Kabul Zoo became member of the International zoos in 2009 through this organization. More than 100 animal species, birds and fish are kept in the center in a standard form, with a total of more than 600 species. And the number of visitors is also high in this garden.
Saqeb further went on to say, the animal health status, the condition of their genital mutilation are good, because here we have professional doctors who were trained in abroad, also animal losses in the zoo are low and quality food is distributed at different times of the day, from 8 am to noon, such as dried fruits, fresh vegetables and fresh meat. It’s mentionable that the food is funded by Kabul municipality.
In response to this question how much is the cost of the ticket Saqeb said that it is common in all the zoos of the world to buy a ticket when people visit it. In Kabul, the cost of the ticket is 10 Afghani for each person.
According to the Zoo administration, last year, 20 million income was earned, where 9-10 million revenues were collected from the city park, while one million people visited the site that 60 to 70 thousand people were from the schools, kindergartens and capital and provinces.
In the Kabul Zoo, 4 white lions from Africa which are kept in special cages, two of them are male and two others are female, officials say the lion is now two years old, when it became four years we would start making generation.
The zoo administration also reported about establishing of wildlife gardens in the northeastern and southern zones in near future.
Shukria Kohistani
