The number of tigers at Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata increased to eight with the addition of a white feline from Visakhapatnam.

The tiger was among 17 animals received from Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in the coastal city of Andhra Pradesh as part of an animal exchange programme, Alipore zoo Director Subhankar Sengupta told PTI on Friday.

The number of white tigers in the zoo has also risen to four.

The animals were brought from Visakhapatnam with permission from the Central Zoo Authority and chief wildlife wardens of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

Apart from the tiger, one pair each of ring-tailed lemurs, grey wolves, striped hyenas, black swans, five wild dogs and three hog deer were recently brought in six air-conditioned ambulances by road, he said.

The animals were released into the enclosures after being kept under observation for some time.

A pair of sloth bears is also scheduled to arrive later.

In exchange, a pair of northern giraffes, a pair of scarlet macaws and two pairs of water monitor lizards were given to Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam.

The giraffes were dispatched after being loaded onto a low-bed trailer with specially designed cages.

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