Humboldt penguins at risk of infection as Mumbaiites litter enclosure in Byculla zoo

A month after they were introduced to the city in the Byculla zoo, the BMC is struggling to maintain the Humboldt Penguin enclosure. Visitors have littered all around the enclosure, increasing the penguins’ risk of infection. After proposing increasing rates to control the number of visitors, the civic body will now appoint an external house-keeping agency for the zoo’s upkeep.

The zoo has been witnessing more than 12,000 people on weekdays and more than 30,000 visitors on weekends to view the flightless birds in their 1,550 sqft swanky enclosure. A proposal to hire an agency will be discussed in the standing committee meeting to be held on Wednesday. The civic body’s proposal claimed that owing to a large crowd, visitors have been littering the zoo premises and the zoo staff is unable to maintain it.

The proposal also mentioned that the agency will be hired on a temporary basis, until the zoo revamp is complete because after its completion a new housekeeping agency will take over the daily chores. A civic official, who did not wish to be named, said, “This is a temporary arrangement because the crowd is large and it is becoming difficult to maintain an area filled with thousands at once.”

Civic officials are finding it difficult to control the incoming crowd and have also stationed police officers fearing a law and order situation. Recently, citing a reason that money will be used for the zoo’s upkeep, civic authorities also proposed to increase the entry fee of the zoo from Rs5 to Rs100, which was approved by political group leaders.