Mumbai: Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde will be meeting Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at 4.30 pm on Wednesday at Gandhinagar, seeking final approval to bring two pairs of Asiatic lions (two males and two females) from Junagadh’s Sakkarbaug Zoological Park to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and Zoo in Byculla.
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The proposal has gained momentum following an in-principle approval from Sakkarbaug Zoo in May. As part of the proposed animal exchange programme under Central Zoo Authority (CZA) norms, Byculla Zoo will provide three male and three female Tufted Capuchin monkeys in return for the four lions.
The monkeys will be procured through an authorised agency and transported directly to Sakkarbaug Zoo upon arrival in India for quarantine and acclimatisation, minimising transportation stress.
The initiative comes after years of unsuccessful attempts by the BMC to bring lions back to Mumbai. The city's iconic Byculla Zoo has remained without a lion since 2014, when Jimmy, a 16-year-old African-Asiatic hybrid and a major attraction, died following a prolonged illness.
Earlier efforts to procure lions from Junagadh and Indore through animal exchanges failed to materialise. Reviving the long-pending proposal, Tawde personally wrote to Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel in February, seeking two pairs of Asiatic lions as a goodwill gesture.
Wednesday’s meeting is crucial to securing Gujarat’s final clearance and taking the proposal forward. If approved, it could end Byculla Zoo’s 12-year wait and bring the majestic Asiatic lions back to Mumbai.
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