Garden City, Kan. ? The Lee Richardson Zoo is in no danger of losing its two elephants, its director said, but will have to have to expand the animals’ living quarters if it wants to keep them — and its accreditation.

“I think the Garden City community realizes the elephants are the star attraction of the zoo,” director Dan Baffa said.

By May 1, the zoo must submit a plan to the American Zoo and Aquarium Assn., the accrediting body. The association’s standards, approved in 2001, were adopted as a requirement for accreditation in 2003.

The Garden City zoo has until April 1, 2006, to expand its elephant barn. That deadline could be extended if the zoo has a plan in place.

“That doesn’t give us any reason to drag our feet on this,” Baffa said. “We value accreditation very highly. It says to the Garden City public that we are doing a good job.”

Lee Richardson Zoo has been accredited since 1986, the same year it began housing a second elephant, and is scheduled for renewal in 2007.

But its elephant barn was built for one animal. At 712 square feet, Baffa said, it has the same dimensions to an elephant as a jail cell does to a human.

“I think everybody understands you cannot confine them in small spaces, and that’s what we’re doing right now,” Baffa said. “I’d rather let the design of the building dictate how big we can have it and still be reasonable.”

If the zoo tries to breed elephants, it will need an additional 200 square feet to accommodate a baby. Baffa said all efforts to impregnate an elephant have stopped until the elephants get more space. The zoo’s first attempt in September to artificially inseminate an elephant was unsuccessful.

The exhibit’s outside yard will not need to be expanded, though. It has 5,500 square feet, well above the minimum of 1,800 square feet.

No price tag for the expansion has been set, said Carol Hauschild, development director for the Friends of the Lee Richardson Zoo. Baffa said the master plan contains an estimated cost of $450 thousand, but he expected it to be significantly lower.

That group and the zoo advisory board are scheduled to meet May 13 to discuss that issue as part of the zoo’s master plan. The City Commission is also scheduled to take up the issue on Tuesday.

City Manager Bob Halloran said renovations might be done within the existing space, but that losing the adjacent rhinoceros exhibit was a possibility.