Mumbai, July 6: Much to the Mumbai civic body's delight, two years after it brought eight Humboldt penguins to India, two among them have mated and are in process to reproduce an offspring. This would mark the first occasion when a penguin would be given birth on the Indian soil.

The pair of penguins which has mated has been identified as Mr. Molt, (the youngest male) and Flipper (the oldest female), according to a news report. The egg has been laid is being hatched by the mother penguin.

The zoo officials and veterinary doctors who take care of all the animals confirmed the news and stated that penguin egg takes 40 days to hatch, hence, if everything goes smoothly, then the Byculla zoo Penguins' nestling will be the first penguin to be born in India.

Furthermore, the zoo doctors stated that currently flipper, the female penguin is incubating. The doctors also ensured that they will take good care of the newborn baby penguin and help the amphibian to be part of other penguins housed over there.

Science says that penguins mating has two seasons; between March-April and October-November. After mating, a female penguin lays eggs in a month and a half, and both parents take turns to incubate them.

To ensure that everything goes well, the zoo authority has decided that they won't disturb the pair and there won't be any interference with the parenting process. “We will only check the weight of the newborn penguin and ensure that it gets all the nutrition it needs. We will leave the feeding to the parents,” said the senior official.

In 2016, eight Humboldt penguins -- Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper (the oldest female), Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory -- were brought from Seoul, South Korea to Mumbai by the BMC. Dory, however, died in October,  just after a few months it was brought to Mumbai's Byculla Zoo due to bacterial infection. The incident generated massive flak towards the BMC for not providing proper care to the imported amphibians.

Ever since the Penguins have been housed in the Byculla zoo, the revenue has increased by many folds reportedly, the zoo also witnesses thousands of visitors every day and more during the weekend.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 06, 2018 07:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).