Mumbai: Unruly visitors ruin selfie points on premises at Byculla Zoo

This is what Byculla zoo officials have to say to unruly visitors who have ruined selfie points, like sculptures and gardens, on the premises

This flower sculpture is among the many selfie points created at the zoo premises

Byculla Zoo is now witnessing the flipside of attracting hordes of visitors -- since the opening of the Humboldt penguin enclosure, visitors' footfall has more than doubled, but so have cases of vandalism. Officials are disappointed that unruly visitors have damaged selfie points like flower sculptures, fountains and a rose garden. The authorities have also created a penguin replica outside the main entrance, which is another attraction for visitors.

A senior official from the zoo said, "Visitors are attracted to such selfie points and often stop to take photos. However, many visitors have also damaged the flowers by touching them. This happens so frequently that we have decided to put an advisory requesting visitors to not go too close to the selfie points. Since the zoo is spread across 53 acres, we cannot post security guards at every place. On weekends and public holidays, anywhere between 25,000 and 30,000 people visit the zoo, so it is very difficult to keep watch on all of them."

In its advisory, the civic body has said, "It has come to light that visitors are damaging flowers, selfie points and fountains in zoo premises. The BMC requests all visitors to take selfies from a distance."

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