Jamshedpur: A royal guest is set to walk into Tata Steel Zoological Park in the New Year.

Alipore Zoological Garden in Calcutta will send a male Royal Bengal tiger to give company to six others of his ilk in Jamshedpur. It will be a replacement for Vivan, the male tiger who was shifted to North Bengal Wild Animal Park, Siliguri last month.

"We are sure the tiger will be here early next year. We are procuring it for breeding," Tata zoo director Bipul Chakravarty said, adding it would be stray tiger that has been rescued from the Sundarbans and sent there for rehabilitation.

"Stray tigers from the Sundarbans are sent to different zoos in Bengal and subsequently handed over to other animal kingdoms," Chakraborty said.

He said Tata zoo was in touch with West Bengal Zoo Authority (WBZA) and are sure about getting a tiger from Calcutta next year. "The tiger will fulfil the void created by Vivan who was among the best tigers we had," Chakravarty said.

Tata zoo needed a male tiger since Vivan wouldn't have mated with his sisters (Dona and Aahana). That is why Vivan was shifted to Siliguri zoo.

A zoo functionary here said a complete health check of the tiger would be conducted after his arrival here from Calcutta. "We have to be very careful as the tiger will be living in new surroundings. It will take some time for it to adjust. We'll release it in the enclosure alone. Otherwise there might be fights with other tigers," he added.

He said they would like Kailash to mate with Aahana first because they were known to each other. The breeding process involving the Calcutta tiger (with Dona or Aahana) would take place later.

Besides Dona and her three cubs and Aahana, one male white tiger Kailash is also an attraction at the Tata zoo. Kailash mated with Dona who subsequently delivered three female cubs early this year.