Bubble and Dory have not taken time to prove who is the boss in the quarantine area meant for the eight Humboldt penguins at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo. They leave everyone behind as soon as their food—a tray full of fish— arrives and both want to be the first ones to devour it.

The penguins that arrived from the Coex Aquarium, Seoul in South Korea to Mumbai on July 26 were a frightened lot.

However, the zoo authorities claim that they are not only well settled but are also healthier and have reportedly gained weight.

Quirky names

“The females have been named as Bubble, Dory, Olive, Daisy and Flipper while the three males are called Popeye, Donald and Mr Molt. Among these, Olive and Popeye, Donald and Daisy are pairs,” said Dr Madhumita Kale who is the veterinarian incharge for Humboldt penguins at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo.

On a Bangda diet

The penguins are now on a bangda (Indian mackerel) diet. Initially they were fed ladyfish, bombil, eels and are now being given bangda as the fish is known to have high omega 3 fatty acids, which is healthy for the penguins.

“Once in a week we also put supplements including vitamins and others in the fish and feed them,” said Kale sharing that the penguins are weighed weekly.

“Dory needs her food immediately and if made to wait while we feed other penguins she starts to peck us to get attention,” said an official adding that each individual fish consumes 700 to 800 grams of fish daily.

Hygiene, a must

The zoo officials are aware that penguins are extremely susceptible to infection. Hence, an extremely high level of hygiene is maintained.

“The 200 sq feet pool and its adjoining areas is cleaned daily with pressure hose and even the sludge that mainly consists of their poop is removed on a daily basis. Inspite of the pool water which has a filtration mechanism the water is changed in around 20 days,” said a zoo official adding that the temperature is maintained at 17 to 18 degree Celsius.

Play time

Talking about their behaviour Dr Kale said that all eight penguins have their own unique habits and all of them are absolutely alert and playful. “We have devised some games for them that helps break monotony including putting few plastic balls and each of them try to push it and play,” she shared.

December deadline

According to senior BMC officials the facility to exhibit the eight Humboldt penguins should be ready by December. “The civil work is almost over. The work of the glass enclosure being built as per international standards will start soon and it should be open to public by end of the year,” said a BMC official informing that they have set an internal deadline of early December.