Tourists and wildlife enthusiasts visiting the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP) in Darjeeling have another reason to roar.

The hill park authorities released a pair Siberian tigers at the open enclosure for public viewing on Friday.

Officials of the park feel that the majestic pair — Lara and Akamas — would be an added attraction for visitors to Darjeeling during the upcoming summer season.

“We have released two Siberian tigers at the open enclosure for public display from Friday. Both the tigers are in good health and they are doing fine at the zoological park,” said Basavraj. S.Holeyachi, the director of the Darjeeling zoo, on Saturday.

Lara and Akamas were born in a zoological park in Cyprus.

The two tigers reached the hill zoological park on December 11 last year. Both the animals are below two years of age.

The zoo got the tiger pair under an animal exchange programme. To get tigers, they sent a pair of Himalayan red pandas to the zoo in Cyprus.

Officials of the park had earlier said that once the tigers get acclimatised to the condition of the hill zoo, they would shift the animals to the open enclosure from the first week of February. Things went according to plan.

“The tigers were put in quarantine for around a month. We could successfully complete their pairing for the next two weeks and they stayed well together. In due course, we felt that the tigers were fit for public display and shifted the duo to the open enclosure yesterday (Friday). We expect they would definitely draw more visitors to the park in the times to come,” the director added.

Established on August 14, 1958, the PNHZP has earned global recognition for its captive breeding and conservation programmes for the Himalayan red panda, snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, salamander and some other endangered species of animals found in eastern parts of the Himalayan region.

The park has been recognised as the best in India by the Central Zoo Authority in 2022 among the 130-odd zoos across the country.