We model the dynamical interaction between the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds and their corresponding stellar cluster populations .
Our goal is to explore whether the lack of old clusters ( \gtrsim 7 Gyr ) in the Small Magellanic Cloud ( SMC ) can be the result of the capture of clusters by the Large Magellanic Cloud ( LMC ) , as well as their ejection due to the tidal interaction between the two galaxies .
For this purpose we perform a suite of numerical simulations probing a wide range of parameters for the orbit of the SMC about the LMC .
We find that , for orbital eccentricities e \geq 0.4 , approximately 15 per cent of the SMC clusters are captured by the LMC .
In addition , another 20 to 50 per cent of its clusters are ejected into the intergalactic medium .
In general , the clusters lost by the SMC are the less tightly bound cluster population .
The final LMC cluster distribution shows a spatial segregation between clusters that originally belonged to the LMC and those that were captured from the SMC .
Clusters that originally belonged to the SMC are more likely to be found in the outskirts of the LMC .
Within this scenario it is possible to interpret the difference observed between the star field and cluster SMC Age-Metallicity Relationships for ages \gtrsim 7 Gyr .