Penguins recover 25 per cent of money spent on them

Mumbai: The penguins at the Byculla zoo, over a period of just two years, have helped the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) retrieve nearly 25 per cent of the money spent on them so far.

Ever since their arrival, the number of people visiting Byculla zoo has been increasing steadily. According to civic officials, about 10,000 people visit the zoo every day while the number almost doubles to 20,000 on holidays.

The BMC has thus far spent Rs 45 crore on the construction of the penguin enclosure and its surroundings. In addition to this, the annual maintenance cost of the penguin enclosure is Rs 3.5 crore.

“Considering that in the last two years, the BMC has earned revenue of Rs 15 crore in entry fees of Byculla zoo, the civic body has already collected 25 per cent of the amount it spent on the accommodation of the penguins,” said a senior civic official.

According to civic data, during the period from April 2017 to March 2018, Rs 8 crore was collected in zoo entry fees, whereas in the last 10 months, Rs 7 crore has been collected.

“The amount is being spent on the development and improvement of zoo amenities. The BMC is constructing 17 enclosures in the zoo to accommodate new animals and birds,” said Sudhir Naik, deputy municipal commissioner (general administration).

The BMC on July 26, 2016, brought three male and five female penguins to the zoo from Coex Aquarium, Seoul (South Korea). After initially being kept under quarantine, the public was allowed to view the exotic birds in March 2017.

Before the arrival of penguins, the BMC used to charge visitors Rs 5 as entry fee (even as children were charged Rs 2) for the Byculla zoo. However, the rates were hiked later to Rs 50 per person and Rs 100 for a family of four for the purpose of maintaining the state-of-art facilities set up for the penguins.