Despite opposition from environmentalists, the eight endangered Humboldt Penguins have arrived at the Mumbai zoo from South Korea
They are here! Mumbai finally welcomed a small colony of Humboldt Penguins on Tuesday.
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The penguins -- three males, three females and two female babies -- arrived at the Mumbai zoo from Seoul, South Korea, an official said.
The Humboldt penguins are here!
A first for India
The flightless birds will be exhibited for the first time in any Indian zoo. They belong to the South American species found in the cold coasts of Chile and Peru.
This special quarantined enclosure is 250 sq feet
The Byculla Zoo -- known as Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan -- has acquired the birds from a Seoul zoo for around Rs 2 crore, as part of its ambitious Rs 2.50 crore modernisation plan, said an official.
These are the first animals the zoo has imported since 2005.
India's first tiny colony of Humboldt Penguins relax in their special enclosure after a flight from a Seoul, South Korea zoo, to Mumbai's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Zoo), early on Tuesday. Pic/IANS
After arriving on a flight, the birds were shifted to a refrigerated van and taken to BMC-owned Rani Baug in between 4-5 am on Tuesday, accompanied by a special caretaker.
The Humboldts will remain quarantined in a special enclosure for at least the next 90 days to acclimatize them to Indian conditions and the change of location.
Mumbaikars can see the penguins only after three months
The quarantined area is 250sqft, while the area in which they will be exhibited will be spread over 1,550 sqft. The
temporary area is a replica of the enclosure that will house the penguins later.
Spread across 1,678 sq ft, the penguin enclosure will comprise pools, feeding areas, artificial habitat, water pumps, acrylic glass for viewing and cooling facility, among others. The aquarium on the ground floor will occupy 4,305 sq ft. It will have 4-5 rectangular tanks and 2-3 circular tanks, similar to those on display at Taraporewala Aquarium.
This species of penguins can withstand temperatures of between 4-24 degrees C and the quarantine area will provide this controlled temperature range for the next three months.
They are likely to be placed as the zoo's prestigious exhibits by November after their acclimatization spell, during which they will not come in contact with anybody barring the caretaker.
The caretaker will also train the zoo staff during the period in how to take care of these amphibious creatures.
Australian agency Oceanis will tend to the penguins till 2021, after which period the zoo staff will do the needful.
Protestors at the Byculla Zoo. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
The plans to acquire and exhibit penguins here was announced by the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-led civic body after the 2012 BMC elections. The promise has materialised just before the upcoming civic polls in early 2017.
The penguin project has been personally monitored by top civic officials, including Yuva Sena chief, Aditya Thackeray.
The arrival of these pengiuns has seen a lot of opposition from animal lovers from Mumbai to New York.
Even as Mumbai activists were in a flap about BMC’s plan to bring Humboldt penguins to Byculla Zoo, animal lovers in New York also protested the move.
Indian expat and animal rights activist Neetu Jindal has decided to highlight the issue by gathering like-minded people and protesting outside the Indian Embassy in New York in the coming weeks.
But all that is to no avail as the pengiuns are here.
Meet Ashar, an animal activist and one of the members spearheading the protest uin Mumbai, said, "We will be filing a writ petition against the inclusion of these penguins in the zoo next week."
"The penguins cannot survive in a city like Mumbai," said Ashar. "The enclosure built for the penguins is only 400 square feet...these birds are used to swimming in oceans at nautical speeds. What will they do in just 400 square feet of space? Mumbai is going through a water crisis; this is not the need of the hour. If they (civic authorities) really want to work for the animals and give them a good life, the focus should on setting up a wildlife transit center."
The BMC had earlier scaled down the Byculla Zoo revamp project with the administration reducing the project cost from Rs 113 crore to Rs 63 crore.
While the proposal to bring in the Humboldt penguins has gone ahead, others like the 5D theatre and robotic zoo have been put on the backburner.
(With Agency Inputs)
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