Lucknow, Nov 25 (IANS): The Lucknow Zoo is set to welcome a white tigress from Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Chennai as part of an animal exchange programme.

An 11-member team comprising biologists, doctors, keepers and drivers accompanying the feline, will reach Lucknow Zoo on November 27.

"At present, a white tigress Vishakha and its offspring Jay are living in two separate enclosures in the zoo. Authorities never pair a mother with its cubs. The new entrant will now be partner of Jay whose former partner Geeta was shifted to Saheed Ashfaqullah Khan Zoological Park in Gorakhpur in 2021," said Dr Ashok Kashyap, a veterinary doctor of the Lucknow Zoo.

Zoo director V.K. Mishra said: "The new inmate will be quarantined with special care for 15 days before shifting to open enclosure."

In exchange of white tigress, the Lucknow Zoo will send lioness Chinki along with four pairs of pelican, two pairs of red jungle fowl and a pair each of sarus crane and golden pheasant to Chennai.

This will leave four lions - Prithvi and Vasundhara and their off springs Naaz and Sheena in the zoo. The family recently lost Pinky, the youngest cub, which died after prolonged illness.