Aamchi Mumbai Ep. 10

To enjoy the view of cute penguins, you no longer need to go abroad. 

Yes! You heard it right. In 2016, the Humboldt Penguins arrived in Mumbai & are still dwelling in the exclusive enclosure at Byculla zoo. With their arrival it happens to be India's one & only zoo to have Penguins. Let us know more about this and some interesting facts. 

About the Area :

The Veer Mata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan also known as 'Ranichi Baug' in Byculla, Mumbai offers the opportunity. This 50 acre land covering zoo & a botanical Garden was previously known as Victoria Gardens which was opened by the Britishers way back in 1861. It was renamed to Veer Mata Jeejabai Bhosale Udyan after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother post India's independence. The oldest public park in Mumbai has been offering the tourists, the sight of many species which accounts for about 800s. All you need to spend is Rs. 100 per person for a day to enjoy a lovely jaunt. 

Popularly known as 'Jeejamata Udyan' recently developed a special enclosure with specific temperature particularly, below 14°c for keeping the Humboldt penguins comfortable, which were brought from Seoul, South Korea covering the huge distance of 5,014 kms, crossing one time zone. The seven penguins were named as, Molt, Bubble, Olive, Popeye, Flipper, Daisy and Donald. The species of Humboldt penguin can survive upto 20-25 years. Penguin's food and habitat are being maintained just like their natural habitat. This park & the special penguin chamber is owned and operated by Municipal Corporation for Greater Mumbai i.e. the BMC. The penguins entered the Mumbai city on 26 July 2016. Initially, there were 8 of them but unfortunately due to some bacterial infection one of the penguin named, 'Dory' died in the zoo and this incident stirred the political outrage against the BMC. 

One of the fascinating thing about the zoo is that, India's first Humboldt penguin was born on August 15 2018 at around 8 pm in the zoo. The baby penguin, born on the Indian soil was demanded to be named as 'Freedom' because it happens to be India's Independence Day. More recently, another two penguins were born in August 2021. According to the officials, the exclusive enclosure is capable of having 25 penguins together at a time. Visitors of all age groups and specially children would love to see penguins which they usually see in movies & books. 

Wrangle over the maintenance :

The maintenance of these penguins is quite lavish. For the initial three years, the upkeep of the seven penguins had accounted for about 11.4 crore which has now increased to 15 crore for the period of three years according to the latest budget revised by the BMC. It costed around 2 crore to import them from South Korea. The construction of exclusive room was as costly as 64 crore. By hearing about the deluxe prices & big-budget nurturing, one might feel that it is exorbitant but the BMC asserts that the income of the zoo has increased by exponentially after the introduction of penguins. Since two years the Humboldt penguins were put up for display, the number of visitors has crossed the 25-lakh mark, generating a revenue of ₹10.57 crore. Keeping the aim of generating additional revenue, the display of penguins is helping the zoo to achieve the target. The BMC's approval for the expensive maintenance cost is disagreed by the political parties like BJP & Congress who have shown constant opposition to the above said budget. While the Shiv Sena led pannel stays adamant on their stand. 

Another Clash :

The animal cruelty aspect also has been one of the largely debated issue. Many Animal Right Activists have condemned the import of the penguins and regarded it as 'cruelty' because they are being kept miles away from their natural habitat that too in hot and humid Mumbai. The death of one penguin within few months of their arrival, had sparked off rage among the activists while many of them demanded to send back the penguins to their original homeland. In response to the allegations, the BMC vocalised their opinions in favour of keeping the penguins. 

The 'Jeejamata Udyan' have often grabbed the headlines due to the Penguin issue moreover, It has also recorded highest number of visitors too in recent times. With this, I end my blog post on the penguins of Mumbai and wish to see you all in the next episode of the series. Till then, Stay tuned. 

#Shambhavi'sTakeOnMumbai  #AamchiMumbai

P. C : Google images