My penguins have changed Mumbai zoo, brought profitability: Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said 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 Sena (UBT) leader also sought to draw parallels between the city’s penguins and the Centre’s cheetah conservation project in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, which has seen big cat mortalities in the past few months.

A pet project of Thackeray, the introduction of penguins had faced criticism over the cost of maintaining the aquatic flightless birds. The enclosure for penguins is spread over 1,800 sq ft and consists of a water pool, accommodation area, air handling units and a cooling system.

The Thackeray family-led undivided Shiv Sena controlled the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which manages the zoo, for 25 years from 1997 to 2022.