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Mumbai Zoo Mumbai Zoo visit, 30 December 2016

Discussion in 'India' started by Chlidonias, 2 Jan 2017.

  1. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    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%)
     
  2. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    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?
     
  3. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  4. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Have you seen Chousingha at all, or will you have any chance of seeing them further in the trip?
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  6. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    @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
     
  7. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  8. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Delhi Zoo is big and has a pretty comprehensive collection. You may well get lucky there.
     
  9. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  10. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I am not sure if Humboldt penguin and tropically humid hot Mumbai suit each other.
    (to put it diplomatically)
     
  11. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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