New tiger to reach Bengal Safari Park

The tiger leaves Tata zoo in Jamshedpur on Thursday for Siliguri. Picture by Bhola Prasad

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri: Vivan, a three-and-a-half-year old royal Bengal tiger, the new attraction of Bengal Safari Park located on Siliguri outskirts, will reach here on Saturday.

A 10-member team from the West Bengal Zoo Authority will bring the tiger to the park from Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur.

Also, four species of deer - spotted deer, chital, hog deer and sambar - reached the park on Friday from Jamshedpur and Delhi, adding to the herbivore population of the park.

"We expect the tiger to reach here by Saturday. Also, we have already received 20 chitals, five hog deer and a large number of spotted deer. We also got nine sambar deer from Delhi zoo," Arun Mukherjee, the director of the park, said on Friday.

The park is the first-of-its-kind in the region and is located 11km from Siliguri off NH31.

As of now, there is a male tiger and a female one at the park, which have been brought from Nandankanan of Odisha.

The state zoo authority had started the tiger safari at the park earlier this year. Visitors to the park during the Christmas and New Year season are expected to see the third tiger as they join the safari.

"The new male tiger will spend first few days at a night shelter and will be quarantined. It will take some time for the animal to get acclimatised to the new environment. Once it gets acclimatised with the weather and new environment, we will put it in the enclosure of the safari," said an official of the wildlife park.

The wild animal park of the city has been attracting tourists since was opened for public early this year.

Apart from tigers, the park has a one-horned rhino, two Himalayan black bears, gharials (fish-eating crocodiles), aviaries housing different species of birds and pet elephants.

"We have also prepared a stretch of around 2km inside the park as a separate enclosure for leopards. The leopard safari is likely to start by early next year. We also have plans to introduce four white peacocks in the park," sources said.