Bhubaneswar, May 11: Visitors to the Nandankanan Zoological Park could have new inmates greeting them shortly if the authorities' hope of getting a pair of giraffes goes according to plan.

Their search may finally have reached an end after the authorities of Mysore zoo sent a proposal offering a pair of giraffes in exchange for a chimpanzee. The proposal reached Nandankanan authorities last week.

Zoo officials said they had already accepted the proposal, which will now be forwarded to the Central Zoo Authority. The central authority will rubber-stamp the exchange.

"The giraffes, which will be brought from Mysore, are less than a year old. We will give them a chimpanzee in exchange," said a zoo official.

The zoo authorities had been on the lookout for a giraffe since Joy, a six-year-old male brought from Calcutta in February 2016, died a few days after arriving here.

Joy was brought from Alipore zoo as part of an animal exchange programme. The Alipore zoo got four tigers in return.

Joy died in its enclosure a few days after arriving.

It was initially thought that it had died after losing its balance and falling in its enclosure at the zoo.

However, a post-mortem later revealed that it was suffering from theileroisis infection, a blood parasite transmitted by ticks. Ticks are small, blood-sucking arthropods related to spiders, mites and scorpions.

At present, the zoo only has one female giraffe, Khushi, which was brought from the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna in 2012. Joy was brought to mate with Khushi.

Zoo officials said the pair of giraffes from Mysore would be brought to undertake a breeding programme.

"If the breeding programme is successful, it will enable us to bring more species in exchange for them," said a zoo official.

Khushi was brought from Patna after an attempt to bring a giraffe in 2008 ended in disaster when the animal died after being electrocuted during transportation.

The Nandankanan authorities had looked to Mysore zoo for a male giraffe for breeding purposes earlier as well. It had initially planned to borrow one from the zoo following the death of Joy.

At present, the zoo is home to nearly 3,000 animals. This is its highest number since it was set up in 1960. The zoo has a repository of 154 species.

Not content to rest on its laurels, the zoo authorities have grand plans to increase the number of inmates.

"We are trying to increase the repository of animals this year. We plan to bring a rhino following the death of the zoo's lone rhino last year. We also have plans to bring primates and orangutan," said deputy zoo director Jayant Dash.