India is soon to welcome the first penguin born in the country. Four-and-a-half-year-old Humboldt Penguin, Flipper laid an egg on Thursday at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan And Zoo (Byculla Zoo) after having mated with Mr Molt.
The zoo officials found the egg on Thursday morning. Flipper is incubating the egg currently. The officials said that they will ensure that there is no interference with the parenting process at Byculla. Zoo. They will only check the weight of the newborn penguin and make sure that it gets all the nutrition it needs, leaving the feeding to the parents.
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Byculla zoo has four female penguins and three male penguins. The officials are in search of a partner for one penguin. Humboldt penguins usually mate at the age of three-and-a-half on two mating seasons: March-April and October-November.
The female penguin lays two eggs a month and a half after mating. Both parents take turns to incubate the eggs. Penguin eggs take 40 days to hatch, so a newborn could be seen very soon.
The zoo had imported eight penguins Donald, Daisy, Popeye and Olive, Flipper (the oldest female), Bubble, Mr Molt (the youngest male turning three on July 21) and Dory from Seoul. Dory died a few months later in October of a bacterial infection.