MUMBAI: In a boost to biodiversity , Mumbai's The transformation of the Byculla zoo, which started two and a half years ago with a penguin pen, is not yet over. The zoo’s botanical garden, the only one of its kind in the city, is now a breeding ground for butterflies.“The idea of turning the zoo’s internal garden into a butterfly park was specifically to increase biodiversity within the 53-acre green space, which has a grade II heritage tag,” said a BMC official. Work on the park began almost a year ago, with members of the Save Ranibaug Botanical Garden Foundation (SRBGF) collaborating with municipal authorities.“Butterflies are very intelligent and lay eggs specifically on their food plants. Generally, they select new leaves, which are much softer. Keeping this in mind, members of our foundation have planted around 50 shrubs. We selected the kind of species which should be planted to attract butterflies,” said Shubhada Nikharge, a trustee of SRBGF. The new shrubs and herbs include the Jamaican blue spike, Plumbago, Lantana and Periwinkle. Information boards have been placed close by, detailing plant and butterfly species, and also a butterfly’s life cycle. “We wanted to keep it self-explanatory so that there is no need for a guided tour,” said Hutokshi Rustomfram, another trustee of the foundation.Both shrubs and trees are needed for butterflies to complete their life cycle. “While larvae, or caterpillars, are known to feed also on leaves of trees, an adult butterfly requires nectar plants,” Nikharge said.Sanjay Tripathi, the director of the zoo (officially called Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan), said that an intended effect of the butterfly park is to increase other insect species in the botanical garden. “This will in turn increase the number of butterflies there, leading to a healthy ecosystem,” he said.SRBGF has also suggested to the BMC to introduce a medicinal garden and a tactile garden (which contains fragrant plants, especially for the visually-impaired) in the zoo.botanical garden Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan in Byculla has now got its own butterfly garden. Shrubs planted on the plot, and designed to attract butterflies, include the Jamaican blue spike, Lantana and Plumbago. P 2