Mumbai zoo's penguin exchange offer faces rejection over high maintenance expenses

In a span of seven years, the number of penguins at Byculla Zoo has increased from eight to 15, prompting the zoo's eagerness to engage in penguin exchanges with other zoos across the country.

However, despite trying for several months, the response has been ice cold. This has been attributed to the substantial enclosure and maintenance costs. The Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Park and Zoo initially acquired eight penguins, comprising three males and five females, from the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016. Driven by an increase in penguin numbers, the zoo sought to adhere to the Central Zoo Authority's guidelines, which encourage exchanges of animals between zoos. Dr Sanjay Tripathi, said, "Every zoo in the country declares the names of animals they can exchange with other zoos, and we are interested in obtaining crocodiles, gharials, turtles, and other animals." Regrettably, the zoo has not yet received any responses from other zoos in India after nearly five months.

Byculla Zoo has sent an exchange proposal to Hyderabad's Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, home to gharials, but has not received a response yet. File pic

One of the key hurdles cited by zoo officials is the high cost of building and maintaining suitable enclosures for the penguins, which also require medical attention. While some zoos in India may have the capacity to adopt penguins, gaining approval from the respective authorities to construct the necessary high-end infrastructure is expected to be a time-consuming process. The Byculla Zoo has even submitted a proposal to the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, home to gharials, but has not received a response as of yet.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) invested Rs 17 crore in constructing the penguin enclosure, which has a capacity for 25 penguins. Since the introduction of penguins, the zoo generated Rs 14.46 crore in revenue over three years while spending Rs 11.46 crore, approximately 80 per cent of its revenue, on penguin maintenance between 2017 and 2020. The pandemic led to the zoo's closure for nearly one and a half years. In November 2021, the BMC extended the penguins' maintenance contract for an additional three years at a cost of Rs 15.26 crore.

At the time of their arrival, the penguins faced criticism due to the lack of adequate infrastructure to accommodate these foreign birds. However, after seven years, the penguin population has more than doubled, including eight newborns, with the colony now consisting of four pairs of male and female penguins, namely Donald and Daisy, who welcomed Dora on February 21 this year; Molt and Flipper, who had Siri on October 2, 2022; and Papaya and Olive, proud parents of Nemo on December 13, 2022. The fourth pair comprises Oreo and Bubble.

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No. of penguins city acquired from Seoul in 2016