Narinjara news

In search of two ‘exceptionally coloured’ elephants

Buthidaung, 10 Jul. 02: On July 7^th two 'exceptionally coloured’ elephants were spotted on the Buthidaung Maungdaw motor road near the Mayu Ranges in Arakan State by members of the Burmese Army, according to a captain in the area.

The two elephants, one 8 ft high and the other 6 ft, had a colour of coconut-skin brown. A normal dark-skinned adult bull elephant accompanied them. Tactical Division Colonel Thant Zin himself came and watched the elephants from a safe distance.

The police from Buthidaung Battalion 13, and the Light Infantry Battalion 263 headed by Lieutenant Colonel Aung Kyaw Htay have been since then engaged to catch the two ‘exceptionally coloured’ elephants. They have also videoed the elephants in order to report the incident to the higher authority.

Army personnel who can catch a white elephant are highly rewarded by the ruling junta by promotion and monetary benefits. White elephants are considered as auspicious to a country all over South-east Asia besides being an enviable possession.

Last year a ‘white elephant’ that local people called a ‘leper elephant’ was found in the jungles of Arakan State. The same elephant has been anointed and named by the present Burmese junta headed by Khin Nyunt as ‘Gaza Yaza’ the ‘elephant king’ and ever since pampered in stately home and luxury.

The Mayu ranges hugging the Bay of Bengal in Arakan State are a continuation of the southeastern offshoots of the great Himalayan Mountains and with thick jungles and saline water nearby offer abundant food and salt for large groups of roaming elephants.

“America and Japan are economically advanced, America being the most powerful. Do you think this is because of any White Elephants? White elephants are what they are white elephants, I don’t give a damn”, said a doctor in the area while he was asked to make a comment on all the uproar around white elephants and the fortune-telling involved in the process by the superstitious Burmese junta. #