No party today for b'day boy Donald

Donald, one among the seven Humboldt Penguins at the Byculla Zoo, will be celebrating his second birthday on Thursday.

The Zoo authorities have kept the occasion low-key for the simple reason that there won't be any special meal for birthday boy Donald. "We may arrange a cake-cutting among ourselves to mark the occasion, but Donald will have to continue to eat the same meal as per the planned diet," said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, Director of the Zoo.

It was on July 26 last year that eight Humboldt Penguins—three male and five female—were brought from Coex Aquarium at Seoul, South Korea, to Byculla Zoo. The purchase, ignoring warnings and protest letters from animal rights activists, was part of a multi-crore project that included funds for setting up a special temperature-controlled enclosure for them.

However, three months after their arrival, one of the birds died. There were allegations then that even though the birds were quarantined, certain people were allowed to enter, and that the care-taking staff were not technically equipped to handle them.

The Zoo's medical team led by Dr Madhumita Kale, Dr Ganesh Atole and Dr Nilesh Mhatre, who keep a round-the-clock watch of the penguins, do not want to take any more chances.

There are a total of seven penguins, three are couples.

"The doctors feed and take minutest care of them," said Tripathi adding "they have become so attached to the birds that they call them by names, instead of identifying them by colour-coded tags." Donald's partner is christened Daisy.

"This helps doctors personalise and mingle with the penguins. The birds too have now started responding to these names."

The birds have an inbuilt tendency to follow a leader and 'Molt' is their leader. "So during times like feeding, he will lead the pack. He will take the fish first and others will follow," Tripathi said.