By BJ Austin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-747302.mp3
Dallas, TX – Jenny the Elephant is staying in Dallas instead of moving to Mexico. Zoo officials say they are getting a companion for Jenny and putting a new elephant habitat on the fast track.
Some visitors to the Dallas Zoo elephant exhibit were happy to get the news that Jenny will not be leaving. Zookeepers had said Jenny would not do well alone after the death of her companion, KeKe, and needed to move to be with other elephants. Taking pictures of Jenny, Sean Jones of Carrollton was especially pleased to hear about the rush to build a new elephant habitat.
Sean Jones: I think that was the big thing. They need to move to a different habitat. This habitat is probably not up to standards for today. I think it's great for the Zoo. I think it's great for the community.
The announcement in June that the 32-year-old African Elephant would be moved to Africam Safari Park in Mexico touched off a grassroots campaign to send her to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee instead. Zoo Director Greg Hudson says after the initial announcement, different options opened up, including a possible companion elephant.
Hudson: We've identified a couple of elephants that are going through some preliminary medical testing and things like that. But yeah, another female elephant and we're really excited about that.
Hudson says the new elephant should arrive by mid-November at the latest. And he says they are putting in a new elephant habitat, using $10 million in bond money approved two years ago. He expects that part of a larger African Savannah exhibit will be completed in 15 to 18 months. The exhibit will give Jenny four acres, 15 times what she has now.
Concerned Citizens for Jenny still want her to live out her days on thousands of acres in Tennessee. City Councilmember Angela Hunt agrees.
Hunt: We're talking about keeping this elephant there long past her estimated time of death to hopefully build a project that may or may not materialize. No, it's a bad decision.
It's unclear if this ends the controversy over Jenny's future but this little zoo-goer is just happy to see her.