'Joy' brings joy for Nandankanan's lone female giraffe

Bhubaneswar: The long wait for a mate for Khushi, the lone female giraffe at the Nandankana zoological park here, ended today with male giraffe 'Joy' arriving from the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata this morning.

The five-year old giraffe, which took birth at the Alipore zoo, was brought here under the supervision of an eight-member expert team headed by Assistant director of Nandankanan.

According to official sources, Joy left Alipore zoo in a special vehicle at around 11:45 am yesterday. The vehicle started its journey towards Nandankanan at a minimal speed of 20-30 km per hour. Joy was offered food and water on its way to Nandankanan, officials accompanying the animal said.

Notably, the giraffe was brought from the Alipore zoo in exchange for four tigers.

The four tigers, including two females, were transported in a special truck from the Nandankanan zoo on Friday. Rishi, a white male tiger, Snehasis, Sheela and Payal were sent to the Alipore zoo under the exchange programme.

While two of the tigers are two years old, the two others are 7 and 11 years old.