On a hot humid afternoon, Flipper, Mr. Molt, Daisy, Donald, Olive, Popeye, Bubble and their waddle of friends shuffle around in their icy enclosure at Mumbai’s Byculla zoo. Their thriving colony is a flap in the face to all the naysayers who questioned the Rs 2.5 crore acquisition all those years ago.
Today, their 1800 sq ft fortress-enclosure with CCTVs, rocky caves, ice, and artificial ponds is filling up fast. There are already 15 penguins, and two are now ready to be part of an exchange programme. The zoo authorities are sending out feelers to their counterparts in Gujarat and Hyderabad.
But Mumbai’s penguins almost didn’t make it when they first came in. It’s a story of survival and conservation.
Two years after they were brought to India, one of the seven Humboldt penguins laid an egg on 7 July 2018. It was a historic day at the zoo, and everyone celebrated — the first time a penguin in captivity had laid an egg on Indian soil. And on Independence Day that year, around 8 pm, the egg hatched. Freedom Baby, India’s first penguin, weighing about 75 gms and barely 3-4 inches tall, was born in Mumbai.
But the celebration was short-lived. A week later on 22 August, the newly-born chick developed internal birth anomalies and died. At the time, the zoo authorities had received a lot of flak for it, and questions were raised on whether these exotic birds would thrive in India.
Now, seven years after they were brought to Mumbai from Seoul, the penguin colony at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Byculla Zoo, popularly called Rani Baug, is thriving. Eight penguins have been born in captivity and numbers have doubled with the happy patter of baby penguins and their parents.
“The joy we see on the faces of families that see penguins in Mumbai is the best measure of rationale and success for us,” said Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLA Aaditya Thackeray who is credited with bringing the penguins to India.
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Sweet victory
At 2ft tall, these aquatic birds sway from side to side as they shuffle around the icy enclosure. They are the star attraction eliciting oohs and aahs from adults and children alike.
For Thackery, the program’s success is an exceptionally sweet victory. During the height of the controversy, opponents would take potshots at him, with many calling him ‘baby penguin’.
“We followed science and expert advice. Our approach to the zoo has been to treat it as an ex situ conservation site and an international breeding program of a species that faces an uncertain future due to habitat destruction,” said Thackery.
The exhibit has a capacity to hold 25 penguins and in anticipation of new births, the Mumbai zoo is putting up two penguins for an exchange programme. The authorities have already written a letter to Hyderabad zoo, and are waiting for a response.
“In return, we have requested for a golden jackal, crocodile, wolf, and jackal, which are in excess in Hyderabad zoo,” said zoo director Dr. Sanjay Tripathi.
Hyderabad zoo has yet to respond to ThePrint’s calls and emails. The copy will be updated when a response is received.
The authorities are also planning to write a letter to zoos in Gujarat.
“I have put these penguins in my excess list. But there is a risk, of course. The zoo that will take them will have to make sure the protocols are followed for these exotic birds,” said Tripathi. This means that zoos will have to invest in chillers, ensure clean-air circulation, veterinarians and keepers. That is important otherwise permission will not be given.
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Happy feet
The Humboldt penguins are native to Chile and Peru, but the exotic little birds came to Mumbai from one of South Korea’s largest aquariums, the Coex Aquarium. The colony of eight penguins—three males and five females—landed in Mumbai on 26 July 2016.
They were lovingly called Flipper, Mr. Molt, Daisy, Donald, Olive, Popeye, Bubble, and Dory. But the programme began on an ominous note. During the quarantine period, Dory died after he contracted a bacterial infection. The death of Mr. Molt and Flipper’s first chick was another blow to the morale of zoo staff.
But since then, the colony has been expanding—a local miracle where nature, nurture, science and attention to detail all had a part to play.
“The penguins are good parents and are taking care of their babies,” said Dr. Tripathi. At the same time, he also stressed on the importance of following all the guidelines. “One of the reasons for our penguins’ success story is because we have followed the guidelines of air, water, light, nutrition management according to WAZA (World Association of Zoo and Aquarium).”
There’s a lot of work that goes into keeping the colony happy. The penguins live in a special temperature-controlled exhibit. Their enclosure consists of a sand and rocky area, water pool and resting and nesting areas. The temperature maintained inside the exhibit is between 12-14 degrees Celsius. The 40,000 litres of water created for them goes through a seven-step filtration system every hour.
The penguins are fed three times a day and gorge on their favourite fish, which includes Bombay duck, Indian mackerel, and sardines. All the fish is blast frozen to eliminate bacteria and keep it fresh for a longer time.
“During their feeding time, they all gather at the gate waiting to be fed. Except the newborns who don’t understand what is going on,” said Dr. Abhishek Satam, the zoologist.
Like in the wild, the penguins in captivity are monogamous and pair for life. Mr. Molt and Flipper are the more well-known couple. Their now adult chick Oreo has partnered with Bubble, whose partner Dory had died in the early days.
“Mr. Molt is popular and very naughty. Donald and Popeye show aggressive behaviour and are dominating,” said the penguin keeper Praful Appankar. After having cared for them since the start, he knows each and every bird—their likes, dislikes, quirks and personality traits.
“Donald bites my nail when I feed him, or give him medicines. During health checkups, when I held him, he moved so much that his beak hit me,” said Apannakar. “And Popeye attacks other penguins or even us, but the most playful is Mr. Molt.”
The popular penguin and one of the original settlers still commands the respect of the other birds.
“When Mr. Molt enters the water, other penguins don’t dare enter it, Satam says. He is a very fast swimmer so other make way.
According to Madhumita Kale, who is the primary doctor for the penguins, because penguins are associated with fun and are loving creatures, they wanted to give names that even children could related to.
For visitors and new team members, penguins are tagged with different colour codes for better identification. Males sport a blue tag with beads on their wings, while the female birds wear yellow bands with beads. Babies have a plain white belly as against the adults who have a black band on their side of the belly.
Sometimes visitors worry when they see the birds shed their wings while refusing to enter the water.
“People think that the bird is ill, but it isn’t. Instead, it is undergoing the moulting period and it’s a healthy cycle instead,” said Satam.
Last year, the zoo not only celebrated the birth of three penguin chicks, Nemo, Siri and Dora but also two male tiger cubs Jai and Rudra. Both are nine months old now under the care of their parents Shakti (8) and Karishma (10).
The footfall for the zoo has increased tremendously since the penguins and now due to the tiger cubs, which were introduced to the public in May. “We take the mother and cubs once a day and the father every other for public viewing,” said Dr Tripathi.
According to the zoo authorities, on a weekday, they are seeing around 5,000 people while the number doubles to 10,000 on a Saturday and 25,000 on a Sunday.
The highest so far for a single day was on 1 January 1 2023 when 32,000 people arrived to see the animals.
“Our enclosures are carefully designed to make them as close to animals’ natural habitats,” said Tripathi, adding that it gives visitors an insight into how different species interact with their surroundings in the wild.
Tiger cubs, for instance, once went to the bigger watering hole that is used by the male, Shakti. Immediately, its mother, Karishma, dragged it away because it was not her territory. “We have dedicated keepers and doctors to look after them round the clock,” Tripathi added.
And everyone’s closely monitoring the leopard pair, Rogan and Pintu. They usually coexist peacefully, but last month, they had a big fight, said a zoo keeper.
“Pintu hurt Rogan and he started bleeding. So they had to be separated for a month. Clearly the female is not interested in male, but now they are back together,” said WHO Dr. Satam.
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Exchange programmes
Across India, animal exchange programmes are increasingly being seen as a solution to overpopulation and increasing genetic diversity.
Patna zoo spread over approximately 153 acres has 108 different species of wild animals. It recently put up its giraffe for exchange in return for bison, grant zebra, dhole and black swan from Mysuru Zoo.
As part of one of the biggest animal exchange programmes for Indore zoo, as many as 42 animals of 15 species, including a pair of yellow Anacondas, were exchanged from Jamnagar, Gujarat and some other places abroad such as South Africa, Australia, and other countries in exchange for lions and alligators.
This year, Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park also brought in a pair of Asiatic lions from Junagadh in Gujarat under the animal exchange programme. In return, they sent a pair of tigers.
Many zoos and national parks across the country have also launched adoption programmes to generate funds and spread awareness. During the pandemic, Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park offered patrons a chance to ‘adopt’ an Indian cobra for as low as Rs 2,000 per annum or an Asiatic elephant for Rs 1.75 lakh. Patrons receive gifts in the form of vouchers, free tickets, updates and depending on the amount donated, can even have their names displayed at the enclosure.
At Sanjay Gandhi National Park, citizens can adopt leopards, lions, deer and other animals.
According to an official from SGNP who didn’t wish to be named, the Animal adoption program at the park is getting a lukewarm response. Not many animals are being adopted.
Buoyed by the success of the penguins, and the tigers, Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Vanaspati Udyan and Byculla Zoo are planning to bring in more exotic animals for which work on a 10 acre plot within the premises has already begun.
“In next three years, Rani Baug can have zebras, giraffes, white lion, jaguars in the exotic zone,” said Dr Tripathi.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)