Two days after her companion died, Jenny received visitors at her pen at the Dallas Zoo. Even schoolchildren were respectfully quiet when they passed the elephant exhibit Wednesday.

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Children from S.S. Conner Elementary School in Far East Dallas got a chance to see Jenny for the first time since Jenny's companion, KeKe, died on Monday. The students are making condolence cards for Jenny.

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"She must be sad," said Raven Williams, 5, who visited from S.S. Conner Elementary in Far East Dallas. She and her classmates are making condolence cards for Jenny.

"We're her friends," Raven said.

As Raven's class paused for a moment outside her exhibit, Jenny – ever the people's elephant – steadily munched on an afternoon snack of branches and leaves while watching her eager little visitors.

KeKe, 39, the zoo's other African elephant, died Monday of congestive heart failure. Zoo officials had been treating her for a severe case of intestinal colic.

Zoo staff say there was no way they could have known KeKe had heart failure, because some of the symptoms for colic are the same. She was too big for sonograms and X-rays that may have detected heart failure, they said. Necropsy results show that the treatment for KeKe's recurring colic was effective, they said.

Jenny, 31, appears to be adjusting to the loss well, though "that's not to say she's not mourning the loss," said Gregg Hudson, the zoo's executive director.

"She likes people a little more than she likes elephants," said Chuck Siegel, the zoo's director for animal management.

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The zoo hasn't decided what will happen to Jenny, but officials said they do not want her to live by herself long term. Two groups want her moved to a sanctuary.

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Mr. Siegel says the zoo hasn't made a decision about what will happen to Jenny – whether it will send her to another zoo or bring in another companion – but officials do not want her to live by herself long term.

"'By herself' doesn't mean she's alone," Mr. Siegel said. Jenny is very attached to her Shuman herd – the handlers who care for her.

At a little over 5 tons, Jenny can be intimidating to other elephants, Mr. Siegel said. At a mere 4 tons, the more laid-back KeKe was a good match.

After KeKe's death, two animal rights groups said that Jenny should be moved to a sanctuary and that the exhibit should be closed.

In Defense of Animals sent a letter to Mayor Tom Leppert's office citing Jenny's "self-mutilating behaviors" and "isolation depression" after her last companion, Vasha, was put on loan. KeKe arrived in 2003.

Mr. Siegel said Jenny's behavioral issues are well-known. They're "behaviors we prefer she didn't have," he said, adding that staff have introduced different types of interaction that have been effective.

She is not a danger to herself or visitors, he said.

KeKe's skeletal remains were sent to the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City for future display. Some samples and remains were sent away for research, and the rest of her body was sent to a landfill for burial.