Transporting an elephant to New Zealand comes with a jumbo pricetag - $1.6 million in fact.

In May 2011 Auckland Council approved $3.2m to transport two gifted elephants from Sri Lanka to New Zealand.

In June 2015, Anjalee arrived at Auckland Zoo from Sri Lanka's Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, to keep the zoo's veteran elephant Burma company, after spending three months quarantined on Niue.

REBEKAH PARSONS-KING/STUFF Anjalee and Andrew Coers at the enclosure in Niue where Anjalee stayed for three months before moving to Auckland Zoo.

Protests earlier this year stopped a baby elephant called Nandi from leaving Sri Lanka for New Zealand. Nandi was also from Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and gifted by the Sri Lankan Government.

READ MORE:

* Protest stops Sri Lankan elephant bound for Auckland Zoo from flying

* Prime Minister John Key and the elephant in the Sri Lankan courtroom

* Auckland Zoo 'delighted' by new elephant offer, but animal rights activists angry

* Elephant Anjalee a walking ambassador for zoo's Sri Lankan effort

Campaigners in Sri Lanka petitioned the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal to prevent Nandi from being moved to Auckland. A hearing is scheduled for Saturday.

Now Auckland Council is budgeting $1.6m for a second elephant to join Burma and Anjalee however, it is not clear whether it will be Nandi or a different gifted elephant.

During the 2017/2018 Annual Plan process council allocated only $1.1m for the relocation of the second elephant instead of the $1.6m required, due to an oversight.

A meeting will be held on October 24 and a correction of $549,000 will need to be added to the regional facilities Auckland board's ((RFA) operating expense budget in order for the second elephant to be transported from Sri Lanka.

Animal rights activist and SAFE ambassador Hans Kriek said $1.6m was a one-off cost and there would be high ongoing costs to look after an elephant in captivity.

"It's really not contributing to conservation of the species," Kriek said.

"If this is really about conservation, then that money would be better spent protecting animals already in the wild rather than putting one in a zoo for people to look at."

Elephants lived in groups and zoos could not replicate these types of family ties, Kriek said.

He said living in captivity was not good "emotionally, mentally and physically" for elephants.

RFA external relations director Paul Brewer said aspects of the elephant programme funding would be discussed at Auckland Council's finance and performance committee meeting on October 24.

Auckland Zoo would not comment until after the meeting.