Activists to protest arrival of penguins

As the plush state-of-the-art aquarium of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) gears up to welcome Humboldt penguins, animal welfare activists are to gather at the Byculla Zoo to protest against the rampant usage of water for an “entertainment facility” in a drought-stricken state.

About 300 activists are slated to gather at the zoo on Saturday for the protest, and cite the death of 700 fishes in Taraporewala Aquarium last year, the current vulnerable state of animals in Byculla Zoo and the 2.5 lakh litre water need ed for the new aquarium as the shortcomings the BMC would have to overcome to manage the penguin species that is recorded as vulnerable by IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Anand Siva, a veteran animal welfare activist pointed out the Bombay high court decision to move the IPL 2016 matches out of Maharashtra, citing the drought conditions and extreme shortage of water. “The current fountain at Byculla Zoo hasn’t witnessed water for the past two decades. The city was facing water shortages even after the monsoon started and farmer suicides are at its peak due to unavailability of water. In the middle of that, if the civic body of the capital of the state is going to use 2.5 lakh litres of water for entertainment purposes, then it shows the vested interest of the authorities,” said Mr Siva.

Activists said while worldwide the trend is moving against keeping animals in captivity and moving them back to their natural environment, it is unfair on the part of the BMC to bring a threatened species to an un-acclimatised tropical environment.

Mr Siva said he has visited the location of the zoo and added it might probably need 25 to 30 tonnes of air-conditioning, which will need additional water apart from the existing 2.5 lakh need of the aquarium.