Connie, a 39-year-old Asian elephant, can forget about moving from the Reid Park Zoo to a sanctuary, according to some on the Tucson City Council.

LINDSAY A. MILLER / Arizona Daily Star

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The saga of whether Tucson will keep its two elephants at the Reid Park Zoo could have its closing chapter written next week.

And the final line will be "the elephants live happily ever after in Tucson," said most City Council members questioned Wednesday, a push by some to send them to a sanctuary in Tennessee not withstanding.

On Tuesday, the council is set to discuss the fate of Connie and Shaba, who need an $8.5 million expanded enclosure to meet national zoo standards, along with how to pay for that.

Although the council will be presented with a number of options, most council members are talking about the city and the Tucson Zoological Society splitting the cost of building the elephant enclosure, plus an approximately $4 million learning center.

The zoological society said it plans to solicit donations for its $6.25 million commitment, while the city could pay for its $6.25 million with a future bond measure, an increase in zoo admission fees and an increase in the cost of a membership with the zoological society. No amount for a fee increase has been discussed.

"The time has come for us to consider where we're going," said Mayor Bob Walkup of the elephants.

While a group called Save Tucson Elephants has been urging the city to send Connie and Shaba to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, Assistant City Manager Liz Miller said that's not why the issue is coming up now. After the vote last summer to keep the elephants, she said, the issue was always set to come back during this year's budget discussions.

Nikia Fico, the leader of Save Tucson's Elephants, said next week's discussion doesn't satisfy her group. She said the elephants aren't receiving the care they need at the zoo, and they are going to suffer because of the council's decision.

"The city is only looking at one option — the zoo's," Fico said. "They've never discussed the sanctuary offer. The City Council is looking at this in a vacuum."

Walkup said there is some apprehension about using money from the general fund to build the elephant enclosure but said "for sure" the support for the elephants grows when the money comes from bond measures and fee increases.

Councilwoman Nina Trasoff added, "Of course we don't want it to come" from the general fund.

Trasoff said she is waiting to see the financing options that the city staff will provide the council.

"I would like us to keep them," Trasoff said. "The ideal is, we could find funding to keep Shaba and Connie and get a third elephant."

Councilman Jose Ibarra also was for keeping the elephants. "It is essential that we keep them in Tucson; we just need to find the appropriate funding mechanism," he said.

For Pearl Stone, a local grandmother who often takes her grandchildren to the zoo, hearing that the elephants may stay in Tucson was good news. She said she has visited the elephants for 20 years, and she couldn't imagine her grandchildren growing up and not being able to see them.

"I'm thrilled to hear that news," Stone said.

Stone said she wouldn't mind admission increases because the fees are extremely reasonable. "They can raise the fees, anything to keep them here," she said.

While most council members favor keeping the elephants in Tucson, Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said she plans to float a compromise in which the zoo would keep the elephants at Reid Park until one of them dies, at which point the other elephant could be taken to the sanctuary or to another zoo. Councilwoman Shirley Scott said she was still listening to arguments pro and con.

Some of the urgency in building a new enclosure has been tempered by the zoo's recent decision not breed Shaba, Assistant City Manager Miller said, meaning the city can take more time to find the money and build the new $8.5 million "African habitat," part of which would be the new elephant enclosure.

Mike Carter, executive director of the Tucson Zoological Society, said his organization is eager to move forward on the enclosure and is optimistic the council will approve a plan to fund it.

Councilwoman Carol West agreed that the city isn't under the gun because of the Shaba pregnancy issue and said the bond issue for building the new enclosure would be paid back with a secondary property tax. West said said she also favors getting a third adult elephant for the zoo.

She questioned that with elephants getting poached in the wild, "are elephants really so bad off in our zoos?"

On StarNet View more photos of the elephants at azstarnet.com/slideshows