Mumbai Zoo welcomes three penguin chicks, two cubs

The BMC has launched several initiatives over the years to make the zoo more attractive

Two tiger cubs and three Humboldt Penguin chicks are the new attractions in the Mumbai Zoo.

The 162-year-old Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo also known as Byculla Zoo or Rani Bagh, is undergoing a major phase-wise upgradation programme - and in the days to come new attractions would be added.

Tiger cubs, Jay and Rudra, born to Tiger pair Shakti and Karishma six months ago, have been put in the display enclosure from Thursday.

It may be recalled that a pair of Royal Bengal tigers Shakti and Karishma were brought to the Byculla Zoo from Aurangabad’s Siddharth Garden Zoo on February 12, 2020. The cub Veera was born 14 November, 2021.

Meanwhile, the family of Humboldt penguins has also increased further and touched 15 with the birth of three more penguins.

Eight Humboldt penguins – Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory – were brought here from Seoul in South Korea, on 26 July 2016. Six years down the line, the population has now nearly doubled.

The announcement comes days after the Mumbai Zoo started Croc Trail, an underwater viewing deck, billed as the first of its kind in Asia, to view crocodiles and gharials.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched several initiatives over the years to make the zoo more attractive.