Mumbai: Three days after the death of female Humboldt penguin in the Byculla zoo, the civic body’s standing committee on Wednesday witnessed an outburst from the opposition parties where they demanded that these birds be returned before the city’s climate kills them.
The eight Humboldt penguins that were ferried from an aquarium in Seoul in South Korea and brought to Byculla zoo are kept in an artificially created environment. The zoo authorities have made specially controlled temperature enclosure in order for them to survive. Recently, one of the Humboldt penguins died due to septicemia.
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The opposition corporators argued that the penguins are kept in an artificially created environment which doesn’t suit them and demanded to make arrangements for their return.
Sandeep Deshpande, MNS leader in the civic body, walked out of the standing committee meeting as he demanded the return of the penguins and asked the civic administration to bring them once authorities are ready with a suitable environment for the flightless birds.
These eight baby penguins were brought to the Byculla zoo on July 25. The penguins were brought and immediately transferred to a refrigerated van for transportation to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan.
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Deshpande said, “The Corporation is arguing that the penguins can survive within a temperature up to 23 degree Celsius which is a pointless argument since they themselves know that they’ve failed to create a suitable environment for the birds. The birds should now be returned to their original place and the corporation should bring them back only when they are able to provide a suitable environment for them. By doing this we will be able to save rest of the penguins from getting killed by the artificial environment,”
Dr Sanjay Tripathi, Director of the Byculla Zoo, said, “The zoo is equipped with all the necessary requirements. We wouldn’t have got all these penguins to the city at the first place if we were unsure about setting the perfect environment for the penguins.”
The necropsy report released by the civic body stated that the cause of death is infection that led to septicemia.
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