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  Humboldt penguin dies in Byculla zoo

Humboldt penguin dies in Byculla zoo

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Oct 24, 2016, 3:12 am IST
Updated : Oct 24, 2016, 3:12 am IST

One of the eight Humboldt penguins brought to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan — better known as Byculla zoo — from South Korea by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in July died at 8.20 am on

The penguin may have died due to a liver infection.
 The penguin may have died due to a liver infection.

One of the eight Humboldt penguins brought to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan — better known as Byculla zoo — from South Korea by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in July died at 8.20 am on Sunday.

The cause of her death is unknown and the body has been sent for a post-mortem. Zoo officials confirmed that she had been unwell since Tuesday. Primary reports suspect the penguin may have died due to a liver infection. Meanwhile, the incident was politicised with Congress MLA from Kankavali, Nitesh Rane attacking Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray.

Mr Rane claimed that he had spoken to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and asked that the remaining seven penguins be sent back and Mr Thackeray and the BMC officials concerned be booked for negligence. “Since day one, I had been saying that the BMC brought these penguins to satisfy Aaditya Thackeray’s whims. We had said that they couldn’t survive in the climate of Mumbai. Now they are dead. We demand action against all including Aaditya,” said Mr Rane.

BMC claims all precautions are being taken for the well being of the surviving penguins, and they are reported to be 100 per cent healthy. Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, “I visited the zoo this morning, and I noted that all other penguins — three male and four female — are healthy. The vet attending to them specialises in penguin health and has studied in Australia.”

Meanwhile, Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director, Byculla zoo confirmed that no changes have been made in the food, water or temperature of the other penguins. He said, “We do not think this is because of food or water intake. We have not collected food samples either.” He added, “Penguins swallow their food whole, hence there’s no point in testing their food.”

When zoo officials noticed that the penguin displayed signs of weakness on Tuesday, they conducted stool and cultural sensitivity tests, which revealed the bird was carrying negative bacteria.

The bird, which did not respond to treatment, was referred to international exotic bird specialists, who conducted blood tests, x-rays and ultra-sonography. The BMC claims that these tests revealed nothing specific.

Anad Shiva, an activist who is opposed to the penguins being housed in Mumbai, said, “Since there are allegations of liver and intestine infections, there is a probability that the death was caused by food. The BMC isn’t aware about what to feed the penguins; hence the issue of changing the food doesn’t even arise. The zoo should be shut down. Imagine: If the penguin, of which utmost care was being taken, has died, what would be the situation of the other animals, which are neglected Sending the penguins back means sending them to the shop from where they were bought. Hence, they will be rehabilitated somewhere in India.”

Mr Thackeray could not be reached.