What's in a name? Everything! BJP wants Marathi names for Mumbai-born penguins

Mumbai: “What’s in a name?” Apparently everything! Or so when politicians start a debate over names, that too of penguins.

The financial capital Mumbai is witnessing a debate over names to be given to penguins.

For the unversed, the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden & Zoo in Byculla in Mumbai is home to a colony of Humboldt penguins - the only place in India where one can see these flightless birds.

Local BJP leader Nitin Bankar has made a demand that the penguins, which are born in Mumbai, should get local names.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which runs the Mumbai Zoo, brought penguins on 26 July 2016 from the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

In fact, this was to rival the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World in the Thailand capital, which too is home to penguins.

The BMC initially brought eight Humboldt penguins and named them as Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory. However, Dory died due to some complications.

Over a decades’ time, the penguins have paired and the total population stands at 21 now.

The penguins born in Mumbai Zoo have names like Coco, Stella, Jerry, Noddy, Tom, Pingu.

Bankar, who is the Byculla BJP President said: "Marathi must be respected in Maharashtra. The penguins of Mumbai should get Marathi names… when the initial lot came, we accepted that their names would be in English. However, chicks born here, on the soil of Maharashtra, should be given Marathi names.”

Bankar also undertook a protest outside Ranibaug, as the Mumbai Zoo is popularly known - and have sent letters to BMC and Mumbai Zoo administration.

In lighter vein, NCP (SP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto, a satirist-cartoonist, asked: “Good to know that BJP leaders are demanding that Penguin chicks in Mumbai Zoo should be given Marathi names because they were born on the soil of Maharashtra. Just asking…Are the Maharashtra-born non-Marathi named BJP leaders also going to change their names to Marathi names?”

In Mumbai Zoo, penguins are kept in an 1,800 sq ft fortress enclosure with CCTVs, rocky caves, ice, and artificial ponds.

Humboldt penguin

The Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) (also termed Chilean penguin, or patranca) is a South American penguin that breeds in coastal Chile and Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos penguin.

The Humboldt penguin is named after the cold water current it swims in, which itself is named after Alexander von Humboldt, an explorer. Humboldt penguins are medium-sized penguins, growing to 56–70 cm (22–28 in) long and a weight of 3.6-5.9 kg (8-13 lbs).

There are two mating seasons of Humboldt penguins: March-April and October-November. The Humboldt penguins pair up during the entire mating period. After mating, a female penguin lays eggs in a month and a half, and both parents take turns to incubate them.