Sydney's premier zoo is celebrating the birth of its first female Asian elephant - a 270lb calf that is doing well.

Taronga Zoo director Cameron Kerr said in a statement that the birth today 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 said the calf was suckling within two hours of birth and walking unassisted within three hours.