Two-year-old female penguin left alone as others find partners

Mumbai: True to her name, Bubble, a two-year old female penguin, is very bubbly and lively. In fact, she is the most active among all the seven Humboldt penguins at Byculla zoo. But despite this, she has been left alone, as other penguins have found their partners and remain engaged within them.

A year after the penguins were brought to the zoo, all of them barring Bubble have selected their mates. While this has made the zoo officials elated, they are a bit worried about Bubble. It has compelled them to expedite their efforts to find a partner for her too.

The BMC, almost a year back, brought eight Humboldt penguins – which included three male and five female penguins – at Byculla Zoo. They were named after popular cartoon characters – Molt, Flipper, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Bubble and Dory. Each of the birds has been attached with a different colour flipper band to enable zoo doctors and officials to identify them easily. However, in October 2016, Dory died after a brief illness.

According to zoo officials, six penguins, which are elder to Bubble, have formed pairs, leaving her lonely.

“Molt and Flipper were the first to form a pair. They have even chosen their nesting area in the penguin enclosure. Donald-Daisy and Popeye-Olive are the other two pairs. As they get cosy with each other, Bubble is left alone. However, considering their semi adult age, its too early to expect that penguins will reproduce soon. Maybe by next year, we can expect the new babies,” the official said.

According to officials, generally it takes penguins 24 days for the egg to be formed and come out, after which around 15 days for the bird to come out.

“To find a mate for Bubble, we are in talks with a procurement agency so that we can get a replacement for Dory. We are hopeful of getting one, so waiting for their positive reply,” said a senior zoo official.

Ever since they were opened for public viewing in March, penguins have become a huge hit with more than Rs10 lakh visiting the Byculla zoo to see them. The BMC has so far collected revenue of Rs 16 lakh from penguins.

Activities for penguins

The BMC has decided to create recreational activities like slides, seesaws, a foraging ball and hula-hoops at the 1,550-sq ft soundproof penguin enclosure at the Byculla Zoo. In addition to this, the penguins may also be given more toys. “We have already provided one slide to see how they would play with it. The other facilities will be made available later,” said the official.