Titi, Rani and Jalda Prasad — the heavyweights who respond to these names have arrived in Calcutta and will meet people after a brief rest.

Baby elephants Titi and Rani and rhino calf Jalda Prasad are set to become new attractions at the Alipore zoo.

Titi, a few months from her sixth birthday, and Rani, three-and-a-half years old, have been brought to the zoo to replace Mumtaz, Uttara and Phulwanti, who will leave for Jaldapara National Park in Jalpaiguri following orders from the Central Zoo Authority.

“Alipore zoo without elephants is unimaginable. So two baby elephants have been brought to replace the three big elephants. Since zoos are not allowed to keep elephants for display, we are officially saying the elephants have been brought here for training,” said a forest department official.

The three guests started their journey from Jaldapara in separate lorries on Tuesday afternoon and arrived at the zoo around 44 hours later on Thursday afternoon.

“The roads are bad. We drove slowly to ensure that the animals do not get traumatised,” said a vet who accompanied the pachyderms.

The mahouts who accompanied Titi and Rani said the duo, far from getting exhausted, had a “party” on the road. “They polished off close to 400 bananas between themselves. Thankfully we had adequate supply. They also ate a lot of grains, sugarcanes and banana stems,” said a mahout.

The 48-day-old Jalda Prasad, mindful of his infant status, only drank milk from a feeder bottle.

The rhino, abandoned by his mother, has been named after the Jaldapara forest where he was born. Titi takes her name from the river Titi, on whose bank in Jaldapara she was found.

“She had got separated from her herd and almost drowned when our team spotted and saved her,” said a forest department official.

Rani, who was taken to Jaldapara from Jhargram in West Midnapore after she got separated from a herd two-and-a-half years ago, has been named so because of her initial reserved nature in the company of other elephants. “She had the gravitas of a queen,” said an official.

Titi, Rani and Jalda Prasad will be quarantined for a few days before visitors can see them in the enclosure where Mumtaz, Phulwanti and Uttara now stay. By then the three adults will be transported to Jaldapara and the enclosure widened.

“Titi and Rani, being young, are playful. We hope visitors, especially children, will love seeing them play around,” said a zoo official.

The elephant kids started drawing crowds even before alighting from the vehicles.

“They look so cute. I wish I could get closer and have a better look. I will come again to see them properly,” said eight-year-old Khushboo Agarwal, who had caught a glimpse of Titi and Rani while they were still on the lorries.

The zoo remains closed on Thursdays but this Thursday the place was open as it was a government holiday (Guru Nanak’s birthday). The zoo will be shut on Friday.

The three adult elephants are being moved out following a decision of the Central Zoo Authority against keeping the giant animals in enclosures.

The decision was announced in 2009, triggering protests from zoos across the country. The order was meant to take effect immediately but a four-year tug-of-war ended in Alipore zoo convincing the authority to allow it to retain two elephants.

The zoo later decided to shift all three adults in exchange of the two babies. “We will not violate any order by keeping Titi and Rani in an enclosure. The zoo authority’s order is for adult animals,” said an official.