The Pioneer > Online Edition : >> 38 yr old this fair lovely beauty is king’s booty

The Pioneer > Online Edition : >> 38 yr old this fair lovely beauty is king’s booty

A rare white elephant has been captured from the jungles of northwestern Burma, a mostly Buddhist country where the animals are considered good omens, state media reported on Tuesday.

Forestry officials found the animal on Saturday, acting on a tip, in the jungles of Maungdaw township in northwestern Rakhine state, a publication has reported, describing the elephant as about 38 years old and 7 feet and 4 inches (2.2 m) tall. White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Burma, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations.

They were normally kept and pampered by monarchs and considered a symbol of royal power and prosperity. The elephants are not necessarily white.

They can look similar to other elephants except for certain features like fair eyelashes and toenails, light-colored hair or a reddish hue to the skin. The newspaper did not say where the elephant would be housed.

It will be the fourth white elephant held in captivity in Burma. The three others are at the Mindhamma Hill park, in suburban Rangoon, where they live in an enclosure with spiraled pavilions, a manmade waterfall, ponds, trees and vegetation.

Soraida Salwala, of the Thailand-based Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, said the group normally objects to placing elephants in captivity but stopped short of criticising the capture of white elephants.

In Thailand, all white elephants are traditionally handed over to the country’s king.

“The white elephant is a sign of great blessings and fortune for the land,” she said, adding that traditional Burmese and Thai beliefs are similar on the subject. Sphere: Related Content