Aaditya Thackeray, a leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and a former Maharashtra minister, claimed on Thursday that the introduction of penguins has changed the Mumbai zoo and made it profitable.
He was speaking at the India Today Conclave here. To a question that his opponents often address him as baby penguin, Thackeray said, I’m happy about it. My penguins have brought profitability and changed the zoo of Mumbai, he said.
Thackeray said Humboldt penguins were introduced at Mumbai’s civic-run Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popular as Byculla zoo, six years ago. He said 30,000 people visit the zoo on weekdays and many more during weekends.
The leader of Sena (UBT) also attempted to make comparisons between the city's penguins and the Center's cheetah conservation initiative in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, where big cats have been dying off recently.
The introduction of penguins, a side project of Thackeray's, had drawn criticism due to the high maintenance costs of the aquatic, flightless birds. The 1,800 square foot penguin enclosure has a water pool, sleeping quarters, air handling equipment, and a cooling system.