A Tibetan wolf at the Darjeeling zoo that has been filmed by the documentary makers

Alipurduar, May 9: A what-goes-behind-the-stage documentary on the Darjeeling zoo is expected to give visitors an idea of how a red panda is looked after in captivity or what the Tibetan wolf eats.

The 28-minute film, Mission Survival for a New World, produced by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, covers a lot of endangered species that it houses: from the Siberian tiger to the snow leopard.

Even the injured and the sick animals, usually kept away from the prying eyes of visitors, will be seen in the film. The focus, in this case, is the special care extended by vets and how in an emergency, the authorities contact their counterparts in other zoos to help them out.

The film comes close on the heels of the Darjeeling zoo bagging the “excellent management of animals” award of the Central Zoo Authority.

Directed by Suryakamal Banik of Jalpaiguri Television Network, the film has been made in both English and Bengali.

The voice-over belongs to Debasish Basu from Calcutta while Souvik Mandal has wielded the camera. The film starts with a Nepali folk song in the scenic backdrop of north Bengal.

“The film portrays how the employees treat injured animals in the zoo hospital and take care of those which are bred in captivity,” Banik said. “Viewers will like it because they are not generally privy to how a zoo and its animals are managed.”

A.K. Jha, the director of the zoo, said the film also details such information like food given to the animals and the standard of hygiene that is maintained.

“Compiled in a compact disc, the film will be shown in the zoo auditorium. We will send the CDs to other zoos in the country,” Jha said.

Efforts are on to get chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to release the film in Calcutta in June.