The newborn hippopotamus at Birsa zoo in Ormanjhi, Ranchi, on Saturday. Born to couple Lalu and Lilly, the calf’s gender will be determined after a few days. Telegraph picture

On Vijaya Dashami, when the devout bid a tearful adieu to the goddess, wildlife enthusiasts of Ranchi got a hippo and happening gift.

Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Ormanjhi, on the outskirts of the capital, got a newborn hippopotamus on Friday, October 3. Born in captivity to Birsa zoo’s resident hippo couple Lalu and Lilly, the calf’s gender will be determined some days later.

Classified vulnerable under International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the herbivore infant is a welcome addition to the 104-hectare zoo.

“The hippo birth is a first for our zoo. If male, he will be named Vijay, and if female, we will call her Vijaya,” zoo director A.K. Patra said.

Zoo vet Ajay Kumar said that hippo couple Lalu and Lilly had started mating on Valentine’s Day. “They began mating around February 14 and 15 and the baby hippo was born on October 3. Ideally, the mother feeds the calf for around five to six months, and guards it fiercely. Only when the calf starts moving freely, we can know its gender,” he said.

The festivities at the Birsa zoo are by no means over. The zoo is set for a cracker of a Diwali with resounding roars from across the Vindhyas.

Visitors planning a trip to Birsa zoo on or after Diwali will get to see a young pair each of tigers and lions all the way from Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore. In return, Ranchi zoo will provide a pair each of leopards and hyenas to its Bangalore counterpart in the exchange programme that has the seal of approval from Central Zoo Authority.

A team from the Ranchi zoo will go Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore, next week.

Patra said the new arrivals were expected before Diwali. “All decks have been cleared now and travel plans are ready. We are sending a team on October 11 to the Bangalore zoo to get the tiger and lion pairs,” said an elated Patra.

Currently, the zoo has a tiger pair and a female lioness. Tigers Durga and Sugreev, both aged over 10 years, haven’t been successful in mating for couple of years. Female lioness Sundari is also said to be past her prime. “It is the need of the hour to get a young tiger and lion couple for proper captive breeding in the zoo,” Patra said.

“We have sufficient space in our enclosures and the facilities are good enough to support breeding programmes. Young pairs of lions and tigers will add to our park’s diversity,” Patra said, adding the birth of the hippo proved their zoo was increasingly congenial to ex-situ breeding programmes.

Last year, the zoo saw over a dozen births — leopard cat to bison, sambar and nilgai — classified between endangered and vulnerable by the IUCN.