A male elephant calf born on Friday bolsters the population of African elephants at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park to 12.    The unnamed calf was born at 3:16 a.m. to Umngani (oom-gah-knee), a name that means "friend" in the SiSwati language. The mother and calf will be slowly introduced to the rest of the herd over the next several days. Keepers and researchers are monitoring the pair to ensure Umngani properly cares for the newborn and to gather important information about calf development.     "The San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park have an unwavering commitment to the conservation of African and Asian elephants," said Jeff Andrews, animal care manager and elephant program manager. "The birth of this calf furthers our mission of education and conservation by helping us talk to our visitors about the problems these animals face in their native habitats and allows us to gather data that is applicable to our conservation efforts both in their homelands and in zoos."     At the Zoo and Wild Animal Park, elephant studies are underway on nutrition, daily walking distance, growth and development and bioacoustic communication. In Africa, the Zoo is involved in elephant reproduction management and in a study on human-elephant conflicts as well as habitat range and use. In addition, the San Diego Zoo supports other elephant conservation projects through donations to the International Elephant Foundation, an organization that funds elephant conservation projects around the world. In 2004, the Zoo began contributing $30,000 yearly to the Big Game Parks in the Kingdom of Swaziland and will continue to fund programs like anti-poaching patrols, additional acreage for the Big Game Parks as well as improved infrastructure through 2014.     Rescued by the Wild Animal Park in August 2003, Umngani and six other adult elephants were to be culled in Swaziland's Big Game Parks because of elephant overpopulation. A lack of space and long periods of drought created unsuitable habitat for a large elephant population in the small southern African country. Big Game Parks officials felt they had two options: kill this group of elephants or export them to a zoo willing to care for the pachyderms.    Today, the Wild Animal Park's rescued herd consists of 12 elephants with the successful births of a male calf, Vus'musi (vuss-moo-see), in February 2004, a female calf, Khosi (co-see), in September 2006, a male calf, Impunga (im-POON-gah), in March 2007, a female calf, Phakamile, in September 2007, and the calf born Friday.     In an effort to provide the growing African elephant herd with more space, the Park is moving its herd of Asian elephants to the San Diego Zoo, where they will live in a new 2.5-acre habitat that debuts May 23. The Park's African elephant exhibit will be combined with the Asian elephant exhibit in the near future to provide the African elephants with twice the current exhibit space.      Umngani has already proven to be a good mother to her first offspring, Khosi, whose full name, Inhlitiyo ye Inkhosikati, means "heart of a queen."     The average gestation period for African elephants is 649 days or 22 months. A newborn calf is about three feet tall and averages 250 to 300 pounds. Calves can be weaned at 2 to 3 years old.     An adult African elephant is much larger than its cousin the Asian elephant. A male African elephant weighs 7 to 8 tons and can stand about 10.5 feet tall at the shoulders. A female can weigh approximately four tons and stand 8.2 feet at the shoulders.     The 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park is operated by the not-for-profit San Diego Zoo and includes a 900-acre native species reserve. The San Diego Zoo focuses on the conservation of endangered species and their habitats, engages in conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife, and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the San Diego Zoo's Beckman Center for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.       Video by: Chris Morrow