The nation's first penguin chick born in captivity passed away seven days after it was born on Wednesday.
Officials from Byculla's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Zoo say the post mortem revealed anomalies such as yolk sac retention and liver dysfunction to be the cause of death.
The autopsy was conducted on Thursday by a team from Bombay Veterinary College that included a pathologist, microbiologist and an avian specialist.
"The chick's health began deteriorating from Wednesday," says a BMC official, "Its weight had reduced considerably and the vets in charge of the enclosure began monitoring to see whether the parents – Flipper and Molt – were feeding it adequately. However, at around 9.30 pm, the team found the chick lying motionless."
It's mother Flipper and father Molt were initially stressed and upset, but the vets immediately began making them interact with the other penguins. By Friday, they were completely normal, say zoo officials.
In a press statement, BMC said that newborn anomalies were very common in penguin chicks, and multiple references on management of penguins showed that 60 % mortality is expected in eggs and chicks. Hence a period of three months, after hatching, is considered crucial for survival.
