Lulu and Tinkerbelle, the last two elephants at the San Francisco Zoo, will remain California girls -- they'll be moving to a sanctuary in Calaveras County rather than packing up for Tennessee.

It's only a question of when.

"We go on elephant time now. You'd have to talk to Tinkerbelle and Lulu," Pat Derby, who runs the Performing Animal Welfare Society's 2,300-acre refuge in San Andreas, said Wednesday.

The zoo's decision was easy: The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., withdrew as a contender. Founder Carol Buckley was worried about Asian elephant Tinkerbelle making a 2,292-mile trip, and the presence of African elephant Lulu would have made life difficult for a new arrival named Flora.

San Francisco Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo said PAWS's Ark 2000 sanctuary was appealing partly because of its proximity. It's 132 miles from the zoo, a 2 1/2-hour drive. The lame-duck elephants will have a better trip, and zoo employees can visit more often.

"We're looking at these elephants as just moving to a different address," Mollinedo said.

The zoo will still be responsible for the elephants because they're being sent to a place that's not accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which has 214 members and much sway.

Mollinedo decided to relocate Lulu and Tinkerbelle, both 38, in May after their two companions died earlier this year. Animal rights activists and the Board of Supervisors wanted the pachyderms sent to a sanctuary. The association, however, recommended four zoos instead.

Mollinedo said June 2 that the elephants would go to a sanctuary -- risking the loss of the zoo's accreditation from the association. That risk hadn't receded Wednesday.

"The decision raises serious ethical and accreditation concerns," said association executive director Sydney Butler of Silver Spring, Md.

At the other extreme was Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals, who has lobbied hard to get the elephants out of the zoo.

"I feel wonderful," he said. "This has been close to a five-year battle."

He hopes the PAWS trailer arrives soon on zoo grounds so the elephants can get used to it.

Derby said many people just chain an elephant's legs and then throw it on a truck. That's not her style. Instead, she'll resort to lots of treats and gradual moves in and out of the trailer.

Mollinedo said the elephants already are being conditioned. Tinkerbelle, for example, has been walking up and down her hallway for weeks.

The road behind Lulu's barn will be modified to accommodate a trailer. That should take only a week or two, he said. But given the glacial pace at which elephants adjust, moving day -- and it's one elephant at a time -- could be two or three months away.

The elephants arrived at the zoo in January 1966 -- Lulu from East Africa, Tinkerbelle from Thailand.

"It's liking moving someone who's lived in the same apartment for 50 years," zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said.

Michele Rudovsky, associate curator of mammals, described both as "very scampy."

"Tinkerbelle is a very confident individual," Rudovsky said. "Lulu is not as confident, but she's become more so in the last decade. Tinkerbelle is very smart and extremely manipulative. She has a history of being aggressive toward keepers, but once she's your friend, she's your friend for life."

In real estate terms, both elephants will be moving up. Lulu will trade her 9,500-square-foot enclosure for 75 acres and a lake. And she'll be keeping company with African peers Mara and "71" -- whom Derby fondly refers to as "hooligans" -- instead of hanging out with a tractor tire.

As for Tinkerbelle, she'll be leaving her 17,000-square-foot yard for 40 acres and three new companions: Minnie, Rebecca and Annie.

Zoo veterinarian Freeland Dunker said Lulu and Tinkerbelle are both in good health, though somewhat arthritic. And the Asian elephant shows no signs of the tuberculosis that her companion Calle once had, so she can join the herd immediately.

In captivity, elephants typically live into their late 30s and early 40s, compared to their late 60s and early 70s in the wild.