Want to see lions in the Byculla zoo again? You can't as they don't have giraffes. Confused? Well, that's what the Junagarh zoo authorities have asked Byculla zoo officials for in exchange for a pair of lions. Zoos across the country follow the barter system where they offer animals they have in surplus, in exchange for animals they want. Byculla zoo has very few animals and birds in surplus, but these no other zoo wants.

The Veermata Jijabai Udyan, or Byculla zoo's attempt to procure lions rests on its ability to exchange surplus animals for them. As part of the Byculla zoo's expansion plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been in talks with various zoos to transfer animals like jackals, civet cats, otters, hyenas, sloths and leopards. It has approached zoos in Ahmedabad, Kanpur and even the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.