Seven Humboldt penguins that were kept in the quarantine area in Byculla zoo for the last seven months, were today moved to the permanent enclosure in the zoo, a senior official said.
However, people will be able to view them only after a week.
"The seven penguins that had been kept in the quarantine area at the zoo for the last seven month, were finally moved to the exhibition area this morning. It will be opened for public viewing after a week," Sanjay Tripathi, director of Byculla zoo, said.
After finding that the ambience is conducive to the penguins- three males and four females-, they were moved to the enclosure, he said.
"Initially, they looked a bit stressed, but soon they were found moving. It would take another 8-10 days as they need to get acclimatised to the new environment," Tripathi added.
Mumbai became the first city to house Humboldt penguins in a zoo. Eight penguins, including five females, were procured from Coex Aquarium in Seoul on July 26 and brought to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (popularly known as Byculla zoo). However, due to some bacterial infection, one of the penguins had died.
Now, these new flightless birds would remain here permanently in the enclosure, which is spread over 1,800 sq ft and which consists of a water pool, accommodation area, air handling units and a chiller system to maintain temperatures between 12 to 14 degrees Celsius.
The penguins were to be moved to the exhibit area last week only, but it could not be so as the zoo authorities were awaiting reports of some microbiological test done on them.
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