Did you know? A private ‘zoo’ spread over 2,000 square metres and holding exotic animals and reptiles operates in the heart of Bombay, near the historic Shivaji Park. The Marine Aqua Zoo, which has been in commercial operation since 2022, claims to be recognized by the Central Zoo Authority. The claim was debunked by The Indian Express newspaper which filed a request for information under the Right To Information Act with the Central Zoo Authority. The authority, India’s nodal agency to permit and monitor operations of zoos, said no permission had been granted.
Now former Union minister and well-known animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has written to the Central Zoo Authority, the Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika or the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay, and the forest department of the government of Maharashtra seeking closure of the ‘zoo’ and action against its owners.
The ‘zoo’ first came to public notice when a baby crocodile was discovered in the municipal-run swimming pool at Shivaji Park last October. The ‘zoo’ is next-door to the swimming pool, on land owned by the corporation. The corporation asked the city police department to take action against the ‘zoo’ for operating without adequate barricading.
The ‘zoo’ is a project by Nandkumar Moghe, a former adviser to the municipal corporation and the state government on environmental issues, and styles itself “India’s first environmental training centre”. Moghe’s son Yuvraj, who runs the unit, said in an Instagram Live post after the crocodile controversy erupted that their organization got the land following an order of the Supreme Court of India dated July 28, 1992, and the project was in the works for many years. The aim of the ‘zoo’, he said, is to educate city dwellers about the environment and give them an opportunity to interact with animals.
One of those in the ‘zoo’ management said many in the team are wildlife rescuers who have worked in close coordination with the forest department in the past and they only keep and display exotic animals procured from foreign countries following due procedure because they are all aware of animal welfare laws. He also hinted that the crocodile controversy was a ploy to get rid of the ‘zoo’ and grab the prime land it stands on.
Going by the Marine Aqua Zoo’s own videos on Instagram, however, it is clear that the facility bears little to no resemblance to modern zoological parks and appears closer to the primitive manner in which animal collections were displayed under tents or in the open back in the 18th and 19th centuries, with not a thought for the safety and welfare of the animals or the convenience of visitors.
Gandhi, who earlier this month lost her bid for re-election to the Lok Sabha from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, told The Indian Express that the facility needs to be shut down. “The zoo has a high mortality rate, alongside reports of an enormous amount of stealing,” she told the newspaper. “They maintain no records of the exotic animals and how they have been brought into the country.”
The forest department has launched an investigation and seized seven exotic animals after receiving a complaint of illegal operations and poor upkeep of the animals, Sonal Valvi, assistant conservator of forests, told the newspaper.
Sandy Pawpaw
Sandy Pawpaw is a fierce advocate of unleashing the animal in, and with, you.
