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The zoo plans to double that area and add as many as eight elephants to its herd by next summer. Some other zoos, however, are moving in the opposite direction. Detroit and San Francisco have closed their elephant exhibits, and the famed Bronx Zoo in New York announced earlier this year that it will do the same.

The subject of captive elephants is controversial. Even well-run zoos have been criticized for devoting too little space to the world's biggest land animals, which in the wild typically live in large family units and roam miles a day foraging for food.

Ideally, when it comes to elephant habitats, "the bigger the better," said Mike Loomis, chief veterinarian for the N.C. Zoo. "In reality, resources are limited."

Loomis spearheads the zoo's work with the government of Cameroon in West Africa to protect that country's elephants. He'll spend several weeks there this fall.

He finds elephants "phenomenally interesting," noting they're socially sophisticated and capable of passing knowledge from one generation to another. Although limited, the N.C. Zoo's elephant habitat is large and complex enough that "you do see a lot of behaviors that approach natural behaviors," Loomis said. "As the herd becomes larger, you’ll see more of that."

Additional elephants also will allow the zoo to play a bigger role in captive breeding programs. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association last year completed a plan aimed at creating a sustainable population of African elephants in the United States.

The strength of elephant populations in Africa varies from place to place. In general, numbers have improved since the international ivory trade was banned in 1990, but poaching remains a problem in some countries, including Cameroon, Loomis said.

The Serengeti's elephant population, reduced to 500 by 1990, has rebounded to more than 2,000. During the three days we spent in the park, we sighted several groups, including the large herd of 30 or so.

The problem there and elsewhere is that elephants don't respect park boundaries. Often, migratory routes take them between parks. When they wander beyond protected areas, there's often trouble. They destroy crops and occasionally kill or injure people. Sometimes the elephants themselves are killed.

Eventually, that may lead African governments to fence their parks -- in effect, turning them into very, very large zoos.

In a way, Serengeti National Park already is like a zoo -- even though, at 5,700 square miles, it's nine times the size of Guilford County. Its plentiful animals -- more than a million wildebeest alone at the peak of migration -- show little fear of people and often remain on or near the dirt roads when vehicles approach. It was amazing to see so many animals so close.

For me, the Serengeti safari was a once-in-a-lifetime experience -- one most North Carolinians will never have.

For them, the zoo provides the best opportunity to observe elephants in a setting that at least resembles their natural environment. In turn, seeing them may inspire some visitors to support preservation efforts in Africa, where assistance is badly needed.

The N.C. Zoo is contributing to that objective, through its work in Cameroon and its educational programs here. Paying customers who come to look at the animals help make it possible.

After seeing the Serengeti, I'll view the zoo's elephants with a little sadness. They'll never range across the plains and forests of Africa.

But in important ways, they may be helping to safeguard a future of freedom for their cousins in the wild.