In Darjeeling, it's England versus France. And it's not soccer.
Namkha, a two-year-old male snow leopard at Mulhouse zoo in France's Alsace, will soon head to Darjeeling's Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, where he will be part of a captive breeding programme.
Namkha, a Tibetan word meaning sky or space, will be following in the footsteps of Makalu, another two-year-old male snow leopard who reached the Darjeeling zoo from Dudley in the UK in June.
Makalu and Namkha will vie for the attention of eight females. The French lover will also have to contend with local talent: Subhash, a male snow leopard, who was born in the Darjeeling zoo.
Namkha was born to Tawa and Lanak on June 16, 2014, Benoit Quintard, the vet at the Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse, said in an email to Metro. His father, Lanak, died when he was just a year old. Namkha is very close to his mother, Tawa, and lives with her, Quintard said.
Tawa is very protective about Namkha, especially now that a new male has been brought into Mulhouse zoo.
Like other snow leopards, Namkha is shy and peaceable, and at times, playful. The 40kg big cat - a sub-adult, which is equivalent to a human teenager - is made to fast on alternate days. On meal days, he eats 1.5kg raw chicken.
Namkha will be taken by road from Mulhouse to Amsterdam on August 29. A day later, he will be put on an Emirates flight to Dubai. The flight is scheduled to reach Calcutta on August 31 morning.
At the airport, Namkha will undergo checks under quarantine. Vets at Mulhouse have already issued a health certificate containing details of blood tests and vaccine schedules. The certificate has been checked and cleared by vets in Calcutta, said Piar Chand, director of the Darjeeling zoo.
An air-conditioned ambulance will take Namkha from the city airport to the hills. The temperature in the van will be between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius. At Mulhouse, Namkha has lived in temperatures between 35 to -15 degrees Celsius, Quintard said.
The snow leopard will initially be kept in isolation at a quarantine centre outside the zoo for a month to prevent infections and ailments.
After that, he will stay in a special enclosure in the zoo. A week later, female snow leopards will be put in an enclosure near his to know their preferences. Once a compatible pair are found, they will be shifted to the captive breeding enclosure, director Chand said.
Bengal is a pioneer in snow leopard conservation breeding programme, said V.K. Yadav, member-secretary, Bengal Zoo Authority. "It is the only state in India where such a programme is under way. The plan is to introduce genetic variety in the pool of snow leopards," he said. The Darjeeling zoo has been conserving snow leopards since 1985.
Like Makalu, Namkha is a gift from the French zoo. The Darjeeling zoo will foot the transportation bill, like it did for Makalu. Namkha's transportation is likely to cost around Euro3,800 (about Rs 2.87 lakh). The zoo had to spend Euro4,800 (around Rs 3.6 lakh) for Makalu, said Chand.
Sici, a three-year-old male snow leopard from a Czech zoo, had been transported to the Darjeeling zoo in 2014. He died the same year.
Snow leopards live 16-18 years in captivity and 12-13 years in the wild.
