In Pics: Molt the Penguin celebrates his third birthday in style at Mumbai's Byculla Zoo

Molt, and six others had been brought to India from Seoul in 2016

Tourists visiting the penguin enclosure at Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) zoo were in for a surprise treat on Saturday, as they became part of the third birthday celebrations of Mr Molt, who is the most adored penguin at the zoo.

The staff at the penguin enclosures decorated the penguin viewing area with festoons and balloons and even compiled a seven-minute long video featuring all the fun and mischief involving Molt right from the time he was brought to the zoo and it was played on the screens installed for tourists to watch.

“Right now he and Flipper are taking turns incubating the egg that Flipper laid on July 5 and hence we did not do anything inside the enclosure as we did not want to disturb them in any manner,” said an official adding that amongst all the seven penguins- Molt is the youngest and has won everyone’s heart due to his naughty behavior and charm.

Govind Verma who was visiting the zoo with his five-year-old daughter on Saturday said that his daughter was very happy on learning that it was the birthday of one of the penguins and her visit had turned special. “It was a very nice initiative and the video was very interesting. The zoo needs to make the penguin enclosure more interactive,” he said.

The penguin enclosure at the zoo is home to seven penguins that have also formed pairs, while Molt and Flipper were the first to pair up, the others to form a couple were Donald and Daisy, Popeye and Olive leaving a female Bubble alone.

A total of eight humboldt penguins – three males and five females – were brought from Seoul to the Byculla zoo on July 26 2016. However one of them, Dory, died on October 23, 2016 due to a bacterial infection.