Mumbai: The Humboldt penguin colony at Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo has grown from 21 to 25, with the civic body revealing that four chicks born over the past year have now been declared healthy and added to the public count.Zoo officials said the births were deliberately kept under wraps until the chicks were stable. A male penguin, Pikachu, was born in Oct 2025, followed by a female, Lily, in Jan 2026. Two more chicks, Leo and Bella, were born in Feb.Zoo officials said Pikachu, Leo and Bella are the offspring of penguins Donald and Daisy, while Lily was born to Popeye and Olive.With the latest additions, the existing penguin enclosure has reached its designed capacity of 25 birds, prompting the zoo authorities to plan an expansion of the facility.Officials said the current penguin habitat, spread over around 2,000 sq ft, will be expanded to 3,000 sq ft, increasing its capacity from 25 to 40 penguins. The expansion will be achieved by integrating an adjoining space within the existing facility, and work for the project is already underway.During the integration, likely to begin towards the end of the year, all 25 penguins may be shifted to the zoo’s quarantine facility for about two to three months. Officials said the penguin exhibit is likely to remain closed to visitors during this period.The growing penguin population has also prompted the zoo to explore relocating some birds. Officials said the zoo had approached other zoological parks across the country, initially proposing exchanges and later even offering penguins as donations. However, there has been little interest.“The infrastructure required to house Humboldt penguins is highly specialised and expensive. Maintaining the habitat involves advanced temperature control, water filtration and veterinary care, which many zoos are not equipped for,” a civic official said.In July 2023, the BMC had written to Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, listing one male and one female Humboldt penguin among seven species proposed for exchange. However, no proposal has materialised so far.The penguins, introduced to Byculla Zoo in 2016 from South Korea, have emerged as the zoo’s biggest attraction, drawing thousands of visitors every week and contributing significantly to its revenue.
