From John Goodall

calf-suckles_Bobby-Jo-Vial-600x400, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Sydney's jumbo joy: another baby elephant born Google World News - November 2, 2010 With a few playful pushes and much frolicking, Taronga Zoo's newest baby elephant has taken her first tentative steps around the elephant paddock with family and friends. Under the ever-watchful eye of her mother, the boisterous calf played with an "auntie" and made friends with Pathi Hern, another baby born at the zoo in July. Occasionally a little unsteady on her feet, the newcomer suckled from her mother, Pak Boon, touched trunks with the other elephants and enjoyed her first 24 hours in the Sydney sunshine after a record-breaking birth. The 120-kilogram calf arrived after just 30 minutes of active labour for her mother in the early hours of Tuesday. She is the third elephant calf to be born at Taronga Zoo. Unlike her new friend Pathi Harn - who survived against all odds during a complicated birth in July - her birth was remarkably straightforward, trainers at the zoo said. After the near tragedy involving Pathi Harn, zoo keepers couldn't have been happier with the newborn's birth, Taronga's exotic fauna manager Mandy Everett said. "This birth has just been almost the opposite [to Pathi Harn's] in that the labour was so quick, the birth was so quick and went so well and the calf has just been amazingly strong since the moment she was born," Ms Everett said today. As this was Pak Boon's first calf, the keepers assisted the newborn with her first steps just to ensure everything went smoothly, Ms Everett said. For the newest member of the zoo's family however, it was all smooth sailing. "She's just been fantastic. They help the little calf for the first couple of hours walking around but within three hours she was standing very strongly by herself and suckling by herself, which is very good progress," Ms Everett said. The newborn didn't meet the other elephants until this morning but was already proving a popular addition. Within days she will join the others in the main paddock and can meet the public. "She is going very well. The keepers will keep an eye [on her] for the next few days and get her introduced to the other elephants as well, and then once that's all established then she'll be out and about and following normal routines with her mum and aunties," Ms Everett said. Zookeepers will choose a Thai name for the new calf within a few weeks to reflect her heritage and the story of her birth.