India’s First Humboldt Penguin Born in Mumbai Zoo

A zoo keeper holds a newborn Humboldt Penguin chick at Byculla Zoo, in Mumbai. 

(Photo: PTI)

Nature lovers were thrilled as India's first Humboldt Penguin chick was hatched at the Mumbai Zoo, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officially announced on Thursday, 16 August.

The little Humboldt Penguin chick was born to Flipper and Mr Molt and hatched at 8:02 pm on 15 August.

“It appeared to be active and the mother Flipper was trying to feed it too," confirmed the Zoo Director in-charge Sanjay Tripathi.

Flipper and Mr Molt are penguins who were brought to Mumbai from Seoul in 2016, and they are about to make a record. Flipper laid an egg on 5 July in Mumbai's Veermata Jijabai Udayan aka Byculla Zoo, and their egg is set to hatch any day now, reported The Indian Express.

The 40-day incubation period ended on Wednesday, 15 August. This is the first time that a penguin will be born in India.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@benita_chacko)

The anxious team of zoo caretakers, vets and others kept vigil for nearly 40 days, the egg was finally hatched late on Wednesday and the small fluffy chick struggled out to freedom in the nest inside the special chilled enclosure where all the penguins have been kept.

The baby penguin will be monitored closely for the first three months of its life, said the Indian Express Report said.

The special enclosure is spread across 1,700 sq ft where an optimum temperature is maintained, the water quality is regularly tracked and the Penguins are fed on fish, including Indian Mackerals.

Eight Humboldt Penguins - later named as Dory, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Bubble, Flipper and Mr Molt — were imported here from a South Korea zoo on 26 July, 2016.

(With inputs from IANS, The Indian Express.)