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(Photo: courtesy Hogle Zoo)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Salt Lake City zoo is celebrating a new addition it's been expecting for a year and a half.
Utah's Hogle Zoo on Tuesday announced the birth of a baby elephant. The zoo says African elephant Christie gave birth to the female calf on Monday afternoon after a 22-month pregnancy. It's 23-year-old Christie's first baby.
The calf weighed 251 pounds and measures 3 feet tall with a 15-inch trunk.
Hogle Zoo Associate Director of Animal Health, Nancy Carpenter, says staff is now working to get the elephant and calf comfortable around each other. In a positive sign, Carpenter says the baby has started nursing.
Zoo officials say they don't know yet when Christie and her calf will be on display to visitors. Christie became pregnant after three attempts at artificial insemination in 2006 and 2007.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
