Visitors to the scenic Van Vihar National Park on the bank of the pristine Upper Lake will have to wait a while longer before they can see the pair of Asiatic lions brought from Junagadh in Gujarat.

The lions, who arrived here as part of an animal exchange program, which saw the state expatriate two tigers to Junagadh, are said to be acclimatising themselves to the conditions in the state capital.

Assistant Director of Van Vihar, SK Sinha, explains that whenever an animal is brought from outside, it must be kept in quarantine for at least 21 days to acclimatise to the local environment.

The animals are being checked every day by veterinarians—Dr Atul Gupta and Dr Hamza—but the two are yet to indicate if the duo is set for release into the enclosure. It may take another week before they are let out, said Sinha.

As part of the exchange program, a nine-member team, including Range Officer AK Jain, Dr Gupta, Dr Hamza, an attendant, and a driver, reached the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh on December 17.

The entourage returned to the state capital with the lions on December 21, culminating in a 1,000-kilometre journey that necessitated the quarantine of the big cats during the acclimatisation period.

In exchange for these Asiatic lions, a pair of tigers, Bandhini (7) and Bandhav (6), were sent to Gujarat.

The pair of lions from Junagadh are 3 years old. With their arrival, the total number of lions at Van Vihar has increased to five. Before this, there were three lions at the zoo, namely Ganga, Satya, and Nandi.

As part of the breeding program, the female lion Ganga from Van Vihar will be paired with the male lion from Junagadh, while the male lion Satya, brought from Nandankanan Zoological Park, will be paired with the lioness from Junagadh. Currently, Van Vihar houses 13 tigers and five lions.