In fresh trouble for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which has found itself in the dock over over the death of an imported female Humboldt Penguin at its Byculla Zoo last month, Maharashtra lokayukta Justice Ml Tahilyani has summoned the BMC officials for a hearing on Friday over the issue.
The Maharashtra lokayukta’s decision to summon the city civic officials for a hearing on the Penguin’s death follows a representation made by leader of the Opposition in the BMC Pravin Chheda.
The development comes close on the heels of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issuing a notice to the BMC expressing doubts about the care taken by the Byculla Zoo authorities to look after the female penguin which died while in quarantine, seeking a clarification on whether it had complied with requisite import formalities for securing eight exotic birds from Seoul and questioning the very suitability of housing Humboldt penguins at the civic zoo here.
Sources in the lokayukta’s office said that after the scheduled hearing, Justice Tahilyani might visit the BMC-run Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Udyan and Zoo at Byculla in south Mumbai, where the remaining seven Humboldt Penguins-including four females and three males –have been quarantined in an air-conditioned enclosure.
In a related development, the BMC resorted to a damage-control exercise by issuing a health bulletin on the seven exotic birds kept in quarantine at the Byculla Zoo.
“The seven Humboldt Penguins appear healthy and no abnormal signs are observed. All birds are observed to be feeding well and are active,” said Director of Mumbai Zoo, Sanjay Tripathi in a statement issued by the BMC late on Thursday evening.
A penguin, which was among the eight exotic birds that had been procured from the COEX Aquarium in Seoul in July this year, had died at the zoo in south Mumbai on October 23, following some illness.
Acting on a representation made by Humane Society International, (HSI), India, to the CITIES Management Authority of India over the death of the penguin, the CZA sought clarifications from the BMC on the doubts expressed by HSI on whether COEX Aquarium was registered by the CITIES as a captive breeding centre. The apex zoo body also wanted to know from the BMC if had secured the requisite import certification.
Alluding to reports that the penguin had died due to Septicemia, the CZA member-secretary stated in his notice that the circumstances leading to the exotic bird’s untimely death pointed to the “poor standards of the care” taken by the authorities at the Zoo.
The CZA also questioned the “suitability and appropriateness” for housing the penguins at the Zoo under the norms prescribed by the CITIES.
Referring to the standards prescribed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) for captive keeping of Humboldt penguins, the CZA alluded to a serious issues flagged by the HSI India that “keeping rest of the seven penguins at the VJB Udyan and Zoo will be inhumane and irresponsible”.
Apart from seeking a post-mortem report of the deceased penguin, the CZA also sought a status report on the issues raised by the HSI India in its representation to the CITIES Management Authority of India. It may be recalled that the female penguin named “Dory”-which had on October 18 shown symptoms of dullness, inappetance, greenish stools and laboured breathing and was diagnosed with Gram negative bacteria – had succumbed due to some illness on October 23.