WFAA-TV

The trend in many cities is to eliminate elephant exhibits because they are costly to keep up.

DALLAS — What's a zoo without elephants? The Dallas Zoo may find out if it follows a national trend.

New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco have already eliminated their pachyderm programs.

The main reason is because elephants are expensive. It can cost about $65,000 a year to care for them, and they need a lot of space to roam.

The elephant barn at the Dallas Zoo was built almost 50 years ago, and it is not quite big enough to meet recently upgraded guidelines.

Is it time to close the elephant exhibit?

"I think there's always that possibility," said Gregg Hudson, new director of the Dallas Zoo.

Hudson said, in the short term, the Dallas Zoo will make minor changes to expand the old barn.

He hopes in the long term to follow through on a $20 million expansion plan that would add two more elephants, along with more space for them to roam.

"You can hit the minimum standards on things, but for us, we like to really exceed that," said Hudson.

That major expansion plan would need approval from Dallas city leaders, like Mayor Laura Miller.

"If you don't have elephants at the zoo, what's the point of having a zoo?" said Miller. "That's what people go for."

The condition of the Dallas Zoo is in sharp contrast to the stability of the elephant program just 30 minutes away in Fort Worth.

That zoo's exhibit is considered one of the world's best.

The elephants at the Fort Worth Zoo have twice the room to roam those in Dallas do.

"Every zoo is famous for something," said Michael Fouraker, Fort Worth Zoo. "We happen to be famous for our elephants."

So why spend $20 million in Dallas if Fort Worth is already recognized?

"Both cities love each other dearly," said Mayor Miller. "There's lots of room for both cities to have elephants."

E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com.