Trendy News & Articles

A rare white elephant has been captured in Myanmar.The female elephant was tracked down in Maungdaw in the west of the country,according to local residents.

Forestry officials found the animal Saturday, acting on a tip, in the jungles of Maungdaw township in northwestern Rakhine state, the New Light of Myanmar reported, describing the elephant as about 38 years old, 7 feet and 4 inches (2.2 meters) tall and has a circumference of 10 feet, 11 inches.

White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations. They were normally kept and pampered by monarchs and considered a symbol of royal power and prosperity.In Thailand, all white elephants are traditionally handed over to the country's revered king."The white elephant is a sign of great blessings and fortune for the land," spokeswoman Soraida Salwala told the Associated Press news agency.

Previous white elephants transported from the jungles have been heralded in lavish ceremonies where the Myanmar's military leaders sprinkle them with scented water laced with gold, silver and precious gems.

The military regime captured three white elephants between 2000 and 2002 in Arakan State. Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, who is now under house arrest, built a garden on Min Dhamma hill in Insein Township in Rangoon where the elephants were kept in a compound.Khin Nyunt presided over a ceremony for the three elephants, one male and two female. The male elephant is now 18 years old, and the two female elephants are 32, and 15.He was purged and placed under house arrest in 2005. The regime's leaders have never visited the site.

A war was fought in the 16th century between Thailand and Myanmar, then Siam and Burma respectively, over disputed ownership of four white elephants.

'white' elephant captured in Burma