A pair of Bengal tigers will soon arrive at Harinalaya Mini Zoo near Eco Park, New Town, just in time for the Christmas festivities.

An official of Hidco, the custodian of the land on which the zoo has been built, said the enclosure for the tigers is almost complete.

The tigers will be brought from Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri. The park’s officer-in-charge, E. Vijaya Kumar, said they had identified two tigers aged around 15 months to be sent to New Town.

“We have already identified a pair of tigers that can be sent to New Town. Since Calcutta is close to Siliguri, the tigers can be transported through specially designed vehicles that are lined with protective materials and will ensure that the animals can breathe properly,” said Kumar.

The enclosure has more than 70 per cent open space and a cave-like structure at one end. The tigers will roam freely behind an iron fencing and the visitors will be behind a toughened glass partition.

There is a gap of around a foot and a half between the glass wall and the fencing. “The top of the fencing will be energised, so that neither anyone can climb in nor the big cats can jump out,” said an official of the state forest department, the zoo’s manager.

Before the tigers are moved in, the paddock area where they will roam will be checked with large electromagnets to remove metal objects such as iron nails or spikes.

The scanning with electromagnets will be done to prevent injury to the tigers from any metal leftovers from the construction activities. The tiger’s padded paws help them move silently but are quite sensitive.

Trap cages, to be remotely operated, have been installed in the feeding zone of the paddock area. They will be used to feed the big cats.

“The paddock area will resemble a tiger’s natural habitat with a mix of small patches of vegetation and open spaces. The enclosure is nearing completion and we will double-check everything, including the security and safety features, before the tigers are brought in,” said the official.

The tigers are likely to arrive in the middle of December. They will be kept in quarantine to help them acclimatise with the surroundings before being released in the paddock.

Sourav Choudhury, the member secretary of the West Bengal Zoo Authority, said they are trying to inaugurate the tiger enclosure on Christmas.The New Town zoo, spread across 17 acres, is near Eco Park’s gate number 6.

The zoo now has a hippopotamus, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles and a variety of deer. The aviary section has a couple of black swans, endemic to Australia and New Zealand, an Abdim’s stork from Africa, a magpie goose, flocks of barnacle geese and Chinese geese, several blue and yellow macaws, and greater and lesser cockatoos.