An Asian elephant has taken her first steps after being born at a NSW zoo.

The female calf was born to doting mother Porntip at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo late last week and took her first steps an hour after entering the world.

“The calf is very, very strong and she is doing very well,” elephant keeper Bradd Johnston said on Monday.

“Porntip is a very maternal elephant and already we are pleased with the attentive and nurturing behaviour.”

The baby elephant is spending her early days shuffling around the zoo covered in sawdust sprayed from the trunks of her mother, her auntie Thong Dee and her cousin Sabai.

“It is just basically friendly fire from Porntip, her mother, who spreads that all over her back. So whatever falls off her ends up on the back of the calf,” Mr Johnston told AAP.

The newborn is Porntip’s second calf after she gave birth to a boy in 2010 named Pathi Harn.

The baby girl was born via artificial insemination to father Putra Mas, who remains in Perth Zoo.

The name of the baby elephant will be chosen in an online competition.

Asian elephants are considered an endangered species with an estimated 40,000 left roaming in the wild.

-AAP