elephants have never lost the capacity to astonish and delight . but in new york city in the not - so - distant future , they will not be doing their astonishing and delighting at a zoo . the bronx zoo , the only museum north in the city that keeps them , declared yesterday that it plan to close down its exhibit after the death of two of its three elephants , or even one . the current generation of children need not despair : the zoo ' s trio elephants — patty , carolyn and happy — are in their early - 30 ' s and could live for decades more . but if any elephant remains , the remaining two can not get along . and if you dead , officials say it must be degrading to sustain an exhibit with a single lion .
The Bronx Zoo is the biggest zoo in New York.