One of the leopards before it left the South Khairbari rescue centre for the Darjeeling hills on Wednesday. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, Jan. 7: Two leopards from South Khairbari Rescue Centre were today sent to Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park in Darjeeling to reduce the pressure on the Dooars unit. Two more will be sent to the hill zoo in the next phase.

Another big cat, Jimmy, arrived in Khairbari, 46km from here, from Ramna Bagan in Burdwan this afternoon.

Despite the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) prohibiting the captive breeding of leopards, two cubs were born in September in the centre’s enclosure earmarked for leopard safari. Here, the animals roam freely for tourists, who come here in a battery-run vehicle for close views.

The birth of the cubs prompted the authorities to shift Binod, the adult male leopard, to a cage at the centre where already there were already 11 animals. With today’s departure of six-year-old Binod and two-and-a-half-year-old Karina and the new arrival Jimmy, the figure has come down to 10.

Jimmy, an adult female which once belonged to this centre, was brought back here because Jon, a male leopard at Ramna Bagan that kept her company, had died.

In the next shift, two leopards will be sent to the Darjeeling zoo after which a pair from the hills will be transferred to Ramna Bagan.

Binod and Karina were put in squeeze cages which were loaded on trucks that departed for the hills in the evening.

Despite the presence of 20 big cats (10 leopards and an equal number of tigers) at the centre, there are no medical staff to take care of the animals. In case of emergencies, Proloy Mandal, the veterinary officer of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, 11km away from the rescue centre, is asked to attend to the animals.

P.T. Bhutia, the conservator of forests (wildlife, north), said the CZA has approved the exchange programme.

“Jimmy had left Khairbari for Burdwan in 2005. But after Joy’s death, she became lonely. We have a plan to start a small-scale laboratory at the centre to tackle emergencies. For the moment, we have only three caretakers to look after the animals. Today one pair, Binod and Karina, left for Darjeeling and in the next phase two more will be sent to the hills,” said Bhutia.