In a most pleasant development, India’s first Humboldt penguin chick was born at the BMC-run Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Udyan and Zoo at Byculla in south Mumbai coincidentally on the Independence Day.

Announcing the birth of a Penguin chick, VJB Udyan and Zoo director Dr Sanjay Tripathi said here on Thursday: “A Humboldt penguin chick hatched from the egg at 08.02 pm on Wednesday. It appeared to be active and the mother flipper was trying to feed it too”. Elated by an addition to the Penguin family at the Zoo, the VJB Udyan authorities released photographs and a short video of the newly-born chick.

After mating in captivity with male Penguin Molt, the female Penguin Flipper delivered had delivered an egg last month at the VJB Udyan and Zoo. For Penguins, there are two mating seasons: March-April and October-November. The Humboldt penguins pair up during the entire mating period. In the case of Molt and Flipper, the mating happened between March and April, the female penguin laid eggs in a month and a half, and both parents took turn to incubate them.

last month, the caretakers at the Byculla Zoo found that the nest built by the penguin pair — Molt and Flipper — had an egg. The zoo caretakers, vets and others kept strict vigil for nearly 40 days. Finally, a small fluffy chick walked out of the egg to freedom in the nest inside the air-conditioned enclosure built by the Zoo authorities where the all Penguins have been kept.

While Molt is the youngest male, Flipper is the oldest female in the zoo Penguin colony which attracts thousands of visitors everyday.

The first chick was born at the VJB Udyan and Zoo more than a year after eight Humboldt penguins – Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory – were brought here from Seoul in South Korea.

Of the eight imported Penguins, female Dory succumbed to some illness on October 23 last years, after showing symptoms of dullness, inappetance, greenish stools and laboured breathing and was diagnosed with  Gram negative bacteria. The Penguins have been kept in a special enclosure where the temperature was in the range of 16 to 18 degree C. The penguins feed on fish including the Indian mackerals. Water quality is monitored at regular intervals and there are several support systems that has been created

The eight Humboldt penguins, which arrived in the Mumbai zoo from the South Korean capital on July 26, 2016, were aged anywhere between one year and three years. They were 12 to 15 centimetres in height and they weigh anywhere from 1 kilogram to 2.5 kilograms.