NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 -- Shankar, the solitary 27-year-old African elephant residing at the Delhi Zoo, may soon find companionship from an unexpected source - Dubai Safari Park. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has stepped forward to facilitate the transportation of a female elephant from Dubai, according to sources at the Delhi Zoo, also known as the National Zoological Park.

Initially, there were plans to bring a female elephant from South Africa, but talks could not materialise due to technical and logistic glitches. Now, officials have identified Dubai Safari Park as the potential source to bring an African female elephant for Shankar.

Shankar is not alone in this predicament; at the Mysuru zoo, Rambo, another African bull elephant in his 20...