Australia's Taronga Zoo welcomes its first female Asian elephant calf

SYDNEY — Sydney's premier zoo is celebrating the birth of its first female Asian elephant -- a 270-pound (120-kilogram) calf who is doing well.

Taronga Zoo director Cameron Kerr said in a statement that the birth Tuesday means that Australia now has a dozen of the endangered animals in zoos in Sydney and Melbourne, after initially receiving eight from Thailand in 2006.

The newborn, which has yet to be named, is the third born in the Sydney zoo and the first female.

The zoo says the calf was suckling within two hours of birth and walking unassisted within three hours.

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-- Associated Press

Photo: The newborn calf stands beneath her mother, Pak Boon, at the Taronga Zoo on Nov. 2. Credit: Taronga Zoo / Getty Images