Burma finds rare white elephant in western forest

Rangoon - Burma has found a rare white elephant in a forest in the western part of the country, the fifth in 10 years, local media reported Saturday.

Forest Department officials caught the 18-year-old on September 23 in Maungdaw Township of Rakhine state, about 1,000 kilometres north-west of Rangoon.

Buddhists in Burma and neighboring countries have revered white elephants for centuries as good omens, and state media on Saturday called it propitious for the November 7 elections.

The elections would be the first held in Burma since 1990, making them more rare than white elephants.

White elephants are usually given special treatment in spacious pavilions and are fed well.

The four others caught since 2001 are kept in a park in a Rangood suburb.

White elephants have a reddish tint, and their eyelashes and toenails are more fair than typical pachyderms

-- The Nation 2010-09-25

to be continued

Thailand Live Sunday 26 September 2010

//CLOSED//