As life picks up pace on all fronts across the city, the number of visitors at Byculla zoo has touched the pre-Covid levels, with daily footfall crossing 5,000. Gates of the zoo are being shut for an hour on weekends to control the crowd, said officials. The Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo, popularly known as the Byculla zoo, reopened this month after more than one and a half years. Between November 1 and 22, nearly 1.25 lakh people visited the place, the only facility in India to have penguins, bringing in a revenue of Rs 51 lakh.

While about 4,000 people visit the zoo on weekdays, there is a huge surge on weekends. “On Saturdays, there are 10 to 12 thousand visitors and on Sundays, the number goes above 14,000. We had to shut the gates for an hour to manage the crowd,” said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of the zoo.  Dr Tripathi said the Humboldt penguin and tiger enclosures see the highest number of visitors. “People like to watch tigers in water. Even the bird display is a major point of attraction. The zoo authority increased the security near these enclosures to manage the crowds,” said the official.