Byculla zoo to let penguins mate in privacy

Mumbai: The Humboldt penguins at civic-run Byculla Zoo have started entering their mating period, with four of them pairing up as couples - “Donald and Daisy” and “Popeye and Olive”. The zoo will soon start quarantining areas for these couples to mate. Earlier, there was a cavity made but now nest areas will be prepared for them, said zoo authorities.

There are seven penguins in all – three males and four females – all two-and-a-half to three years old. The penguins are in the “sub-adult” age where they start looking for life partners to eventually mate. Currently, the breeding season of the penguins has started; there are two mating seasons – April to May and October to November. In the absence of nesting areas, the penguins have been unable to mate right at the time of their breeding period. Hence, zoo authorities have started setting up nesting areas for the two penguin couples.

Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director, Byculla Zoo, said, “The penguins have been showing signs of wanting to mate. The signs include cuddling, swimming, eating food and playing together. Penguins select their partners for life and two couples have been preening for the past one week which shows they are ready to mate.”

Typical mating behaviour in penguins includes vocalising with each other and preening, an activity where the birds spread an oily secretion from the preen gland located at the base of the tail to maintain their feathers in a healthy condition. After mating, the female lays two white eggs. However penguins mate during daytime but are too shy to do so when people are around.

The seven penguins at Byculla Zoo are currently known as Bubble, Mr Molt, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive and Flipper. One-and-a-half year old Flipper is single and authorities are on the lookout for a suitable male penguin for Flipper especially since the demise of penguin Dorie who died of an infection last October.