A grey pheasant at the zoo. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Jan. 23: The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park authorities’ stint as animal matchmakers has paid some dividends.

A week of quarantine and acclimatisation is all that stands between the five resident grey pheasant females and their knights in shining plumage.

The two grey pheasant males, brought from Alipore zoo, Calcutta, are presently housed in the Padmaja Naidu zoo hospital and the officials are looking forward to a productive breeding season, just a couple of months away.

There is some great news for eligible female Himalayan tahrs (a mountain goat-that inhabits the middle and lower reaches of the Himalayas) at the park as well.

Talks are on with the Singapore Zoo and the the suitable boys are slated to arrive in Darjeeling once the zoo authorities have completed a few formalities.

“The Singapore Zoo has agreed to send two male Himalayan tahrs, but there are some formalities that have to be completed before they can be brought here. We are currently in the process of seeking permission from the Central Zoo Authority and clearing aspects like import tax. We hope to get the tahrs soon,” Padmaja Naidu zoo director B.R. Sharma said.

The only worry of the zoo authorities is that they have not been able to find a match for the male clouded leopard that has been craving for company.

The clouded leopard is endangered and a successful captive-breeding programme, authorities of the zoo believe, could go a long way in ensuring the survival of the species in the wild.

Though clouded leopards do not readily breed in captivity, the Padmaja Naidu zoo is ready to take up the challenge and hopes to replicate the success it achieved in breeding snow leopards once it finds a clouded leopard female.

“The Singapore Zoo does not have a female clouded leopard that could be brought here. We contacted the authorities of Agartala zoo after we came to know that they had a female clouded leopard. We could not make much headway because they were not willing to part with the feline,” Sharma said.

Though authorities of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park said there are no major problems in housing single animals, they were quick to add that it was better for the animals to have partners, even in the confines of their cages.

“The animals become restless during the breeding season and we regularly conduct exchange programmes with other zoos to try and ensure a healthy balance of the males and females of all the species that are housed here,” said Sharma.

The zoo is scheduled to exchange a pair of snow leopards and Tibetan wolf with the Shimla zoo. The authorities of Shimla zoo have, on their part, agreed to send a pair of Himalayan monal pheasants and three female red jungle fowls to give the males in Darjeeling some company.