Byculla's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, which is usually closed on Wednesday, this year welcomed the visitors on the occasion of Ganeshotsav. The citizens, especially children, were seen enjoying watching the animals.
Popularly known as Ranibaug, the zoo has pulled crowd in the last few months, which is open on weekends and remains closed on Wednesdays for cleaning purposes. On the occasion of Ganeshotsav, the BMC decided to keep it open for the public, with the objective the citizens enjoy a day with their families, said a civic official.
The addition of new exotic animals in the zoo has attracted visitors, especially children who were seen in large numbers around the exhibit of tiger, leopard, bear and penguin as well. The Bengal tiger cub Veera and baby penguin Oscar were the centre of attraction throughout the day. The zoo recorded 7,144 visitors on Wednesday and earned a revenue of Rs 2,86,800.
The average weekday footfall is around 3,000-4,000, while it swells to 12,000-15,000 on weekends. The long weekend of four days in the last month had reported around 46,000 visitors. While during summer vacation, the zoo recorded the highest number of visitors 30,379 on one single day in May. However, the number of visitors went down due to heavy rains, and the reopening of schools.
