Jim Mahoney / DMN (Jenny) and File Photo

Actress Lily Tomlin (inset) is backing a move to keep Jenny the elephant in the United States.

DALLAS — A big name in Hollywood just joined the fight to send the Dallas Zoo's last surviving elephant to a sanctuary in Tennessee.

Actress Lily Tomlin sent a letter to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert urging him to send the city’s African elephant, Jenny, 32, to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

The Tennessee facility has agreed to take her, and offers hundreds of acres to roam around other African elephants.

"Jenny’s plight grabbed my heart because, after spending most of her life in captivity, she finally has a chance to live a life much closer to what nature intended for her," Tomlin said in a statement released by Concerned Citizens for Jenny. "I strongly urge the City of Dallas to do the right thing and give Jenny the life she deserves at The Elephant Sanctuary."

But the Dallas Zoo already has plans to send Jenny to the Africam Safari Park in Mexico, which is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The zoo says Africam offers more space than Jenny has right now in Dallas, along with the veterinary care that she needs.

Tomlin has taken up other animal rights causes over the years. She told Leppert that Mexico is the wrong move for this elephant because “there is no USDA regulation, limited roaming space, and, most significantly, has no other African elephants.”

Africam has agreed to find another African elephant as a companion for Jenny before the Dallas Zoo sends her.

A growing number of people, including Tomlin, want the zoo to reconsider before it moves Jenny this fall.

Leppert’s office and other city leaders have said they will not get involved in this issue, saying it is the zoo’s decision.

But, after thousands of e-mails, phone calls and faxes from around the world, Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt told News 8 she will try and bring the issue before council at least to let both sides explain their points of view.

Council meets Wednesday morning, and there will be a number of Jenny’s supporters there.

E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com