Myanmar – rare white elephant has been born

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According to the state media, the rare creature was born last month in western Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has recently reported the birth of a rare white elephant in Taungup, Rakhine State.

The white elephant calf was born on July 23. According to the ministry’s official statement, the calf measured 180 pounds and two feet and five inches in shoulder height at birth.

The 10-day-old baby elephant still to be named is currently living with his mother, a 33-year-old elephant called Zar Nan Hla, and is being taking care of by keepers at the Myanma Timber Enterprise.

The calf possesses seven out of eight characteristics of white elephants: “Pearl-coloured eyes, plantain branch-shaped back, white hair, a distinctive tail, auspicious plot signs on the skin, five claws on the front legs and four on the back legs and big ears.”

In Myanmar, as well as across all Southeast Asian culture, white elephants are considered to be auspicious animals boosting the fortune of their keepers. Six white elephants currently live in captivity across Myanmar’s military-built capital Naypyidaw, most of them from Rakhine and the southern Ayeyarwady areas.

Source: france24.com