As part of its revamp project, the Byculla Zoo bought eight penguins from Seoul in South Korea on July 26, 2016, at the cost of Rs 45 crore.
Two years after the Humboldt penguins were put up for display at the Byculla Zoo, the number of visitors has crossed the 25-lakh mark, generating a revenue of Rs 10.57 crore.
As part of its revamp project, the Byculla Zoo, also known as the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, bought eight penguins from Seoul in South Korea on July 26, 2016, at the cost of Rs 45 crore.
However, on October 23, 2016, one of the penguins named Dory died owing to bacterial infection, which led to protests by political parties and activists.
The seven penguins – Bubble, Mr Molt, Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive and Flipper – were put up for public display in March 2017.
According to data from the zoo, between April 2017 and July 2019, it saw around 25,46,401 visitors which helped them earn Rs 10.57 crore.
Between April 2017 and March 2018, the penguins witnessed around 9.28 lakh visitors, helping generate a revenue Rs 3.78 crore for the zoo.
Meanwhile, the number of visitors and amount generated between April 2018 and March 2019 saw a marginal increase, with 12.53 lakh visitors from which the zoo earned Rs 5.17 crore.
Further, between April and June this year, there were 1 lakh visitors on an average every month, generating a revenue of around Rs 1.50 crore.
However, zoo authorities said the number of visitors has gone down drastically in July, as it saw a mere 34,400 visitors and earned over Rs 15.67 lakh.
Sanjay Tripathi, director of the zoo said, “We are getting good number of visitors [daily]. They will increase once we bring in more animals. As part of the zoo revamp plan, we are also looking to expand to Aarey Colony which is closer to the suburbs. This will help get more visitors.”
The zoo authorities have already brought jackals, swamp deer and leopard.
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