The Mumbai Zoo, aka Byculla Zoo, aka Jijamata Udyaan, aka Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyanaka, aka Ranichi Bagh. Whew. I didn't know much about the Mumbai Zoo before I visited. I had the assumption that as one of the major cities in India, the zoo would be one of the major zoos. To my surprise it was so small and half-empty of animals that I was out in half an hour. It was one of those strange visits where you've seen the whole place, seen every cage and animal on show, but you've barely walked in. You think "should I go round a few more times?" but there isn't any point because there's nothing more to see and what is there wasn't worth seeing in the first place. The entry fee is just five rupees. Strangely, water is not allowed into the zoo. Every person entering has their bag searched and any food and water is removed. I understand the food part, to stop people feeding the animals and littering, but the water part was a first for me. I can only assume it is to prevent the plastic bottles being thrown around. I argued with the guards that I can't walk around in that heat without water - I'm not Indian after all! - and after a while they got sick of me and just let me through. I needn't have bothered with the effort, given the short time I was in there. The zoo was established in 1861, originally called Victoria Gardens by the British, and it does look like how you might imagine a Victorian-era animal collection in a garden setting in India. There are very few animals here, but also many enclosures were blocked off or empty or being demolished or being re-wired. The hooved stock had basic pens with a dry moat and wall-barrier surrounding each one. Most of the other animals were in menagerie cages. There were a few aviaries, including some very large ones for water birds. Bizarrely the emus were in a barred cage - the only other place I've seen emus in a cage is at the Calcutta Zoo. There's not much else to say really. I'll put the lists below of the species I saw. I took few photos while there, and I'll upload those at some point. MAMMALS: Asian Elephant (two seen) Sambar Chital Indian Muntjac Nilgai Blackbuck Common Hippopotamus (one seen) Striped Hyaena (two) Rhesus Macaque [Chousingha labelled, not seen] [Wolf was labelled as "proposed exhibit"] [Sloth Bear labelled, not seen, may not have been there] [Leopard sign was seen, but the area was blocked off] BIRDS: (Most of these were in mixed aviaries) Emu Gull sp. (no signage and it was a gull, so could have been any of the large species found in India) White Pelican Oriental Black-headed Ibis Black-crowned Night Heron Grey Heron Great White Egret Little Egret Cattle Egret Indian Pond Heron Lesser Adjutant Painted Stork Woolly-necked Stork Sarus Crane Demoiselle Crane Red-crowned Crane Grey Crowned Crane Crested Hawk-eagle Barbary Dove Laughing Dove Cockatiel Budgie Indian Ringneck Alexandrine African Grey Parrot Military Macaw Malabar Pied Hornbill Greater Hill Mynah House Crow (two albinos) REPTILES: Indian Rock Python Gharial Mugger Indian Flapshell Turtle (I think - they were covered in duckweed so identification is only 95%)
Sounds like a small and average collection Chlidonias, with a surprisingly small range of species for a zoo in a major city. Nice to see emus in an aviary again - got a photo? Mixed with others?
Unsurprisingly so. For years the zoo has been in limbo thanks to indecision and bureaucracy. It was supposed to have been completely modernized following acceptance of a Masterplan. But in India almost any interest group can participate in the decision making process leading to frequent protests or reversals or deferring planning of new projects / exhibits. All at a time when half the zoo is emptied of animals and what exhibits there are left is what you might expect from an average 19th Century zoo! What does not help either is that senior staff get changed over every 4 or 5 years and no independent budgets to run a zoo …. Absolute nightmare.
I have never seen a chousingha, and I don't think I will. I won't see a wild one now, and I don't think I'm going to be getting to the Ahmedabad Zoo, so unless the Delhi Zoo has them when I get there later then I'm out of luck.
@Chlidonias, they should still have them! Link: National Zoological Park Tetracerus quadricornis Antelope Four Horned DELHI 2 |1 |0 |3 1 |1 |0 1 |1 |0 0 |0 |0 1 |2 |0 3 |1 |0 |4 2015-2016 Bondla Zoo
I have now put a few photos for Mumbai Zoo in the India-Other gallery. Most of the ungulate paddocks and the cages were similar, so there was no point taking lots of photos of everything.
New Humboldt penguin enclosure : http://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/...t-penguins-enclosure/articleshow/57450783.cms
I am not sure if Humboldt penguin and tropically humid hot Mumbai suit each other. (to put it diplomatically)
@Chlidonias, it is said / claimed they have Madras pond turtle, 13 in all. Here is a tender document for a Madras pond turtle exhibit amongst others: Construction of Wolf, Sloth Bear, Jackal, Otter & Madras Pond Turtle Exhibits in V.J.B.Udyan-Zoo Byculla( E Ward ).. I am not sure however whether this tender process will really guarantee nor produce good quality animal exhibits.