From chillers to vet salaries: Byculla zoo spent Rs 26 crore on penguin upkeep in 5 years; but earned Rs 40 crore revenue

MUMBAI: In response to an RTI query, BMC has stated that it spent Rs 25.83 crore over five years on the upkeep of Humboldt penguins at the Byculla zoo. Civic data also shows that over the same five years, BMC earned Rs 40.39 crore in revenue from over one crore visitors that poured in over the years.The RTI was filed by advocate and activist Godfrey Pimenta who pointed out that BMC spent Rs 27.11 crore on housekeeping and Rs 31.20 crore on garden maintenance, taking the total to Rs 58.31 crore — more than twice the cost of penguin maintenance.

The penguins, brought to the city in 2016, have grown in number from eight to 21. Zoo officials said the expenditure covers medical care, salaries of veterinary staff, engineers, technicians, and costs related to maintenance, chillers, firefighting systems, and overall operations.Eight penguins were brought to the city zoo in 2016 from South Korea.