Watch: Mumbai's Byculla Zoo gets 8 Humboldt penguins, first time in the country

A pool created in a 200 sqft room, which is out of bounds for tourists and is acting as a quarantine, is playing host to the eight Humboldt penguins that have arrived at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo, popularly known as Byculla zoo, on Tuesday morning after an eight-hour flight from Seoul in South Korea.

The eight Humboldts include three males and five females, and are in the age group of one-three. Their lengths vary from six inches to two feet.

“They arrived by flight kept in a special casing and as soon as they reached the zoo, they were shifted to the quarantine area that has all the facilities, including temperature control, air purifiers and others. They were even given food that includes fishes like sardines, which are easily available in Mumbai,” shared Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of VJB Zoo.

In fact, a team of vets appointed by procurement agency Goa Trade and Oceanist – the agency that will maintain the facility for the next five years – has been monitoring the penguins. “We have also assigned one of our animal keepers who will be trained by the staff of these agencies currently responsible for taking care of the penguins,” said Tripathi.

According to Tripathi, it will take at least three months to ready the public viewing enclosure for the penguins, work on which is going on in full swing. Once the enclosure is ready, the penguins will be shifted. “It's a 1600 sqft glass enclosure with 400 sqft pool area of 1.3 metre depth. It will have rocks and other natural enrichments created as per international guidelines. This enclosure will have a life support system, which will recycle the water and will have temperature controlled between 12 degree Celsius and 18 degree Celsius as per the requirement of these species,” he said, adding that tourists will have to wait for three months to enjoy the spectacle.

Reacting to the protests by animal activists over the penguin issue, director of the zoo Dr Sanjay Tripathi said, “We have all the permissions and the zoo is trying to create a world-class infrastructure for keeping these penguins. The enclosure for public viewing will be ready in three months and so will be the quarantine period, and then we can directly shift them.”

As per officials of the zoo, they zeroed in on Coex Aquarium, Seoul in South Korea, for procurement as their facility had a good colony of Humboldts at a good breedable age.

Here is a look at those bundle of joys, wishing them a happy stay in their new home.