Buthidaung: The Burmese military junta authorities have transported a white elephant captured in Maungdaw Township on 26 June to Naypyiday from Buthidaung Township in Arakan State by a Burmese naval vessel.

An eyewitness in Buthidaung said, "The white elephant was taken away by a military team led by General Thaung Aye yesterday to Naypyidaw from our town in a ship escorted by another. The elephant was first taken to Sittwe, and then to Naypyidaw."

The Western Command Commander General Thaung Aye came to Buthidaung on Saturday and took the white elephant to Sittwe on Sunday.

"Everybody should see how Senior General Than Shwe and senior military authorities revere and respect the white elephant because the Western Command Commander himself came to our town to accompany the elephant with a large army escort," he said.

General Thaung Aye is not only the Western Command Commander, but is also head of Arakan State' administration and the state's Peace and Development Council.

Speaking to Narinjara, an Arakanese astrologer said, "Senior General Than Shwe went to Bodh Gaya in India last week in order to follow his astrologer's advice on what one must do to avert impending events. Now he will have to receive the white elephant in a royal ceremony in Nayipyidaw to achieve all his plans for ruling Burma uninterruptedly."

Because of that, the local authorities have taken the white elephant to Naypyidaw, shortly after General Than Shwe returned from India.

White elephants, which are 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 white elephant recently taken to Naypyidaw is a female estimated to be 38 years old. She will be kept in a grand house to demonstrate to the Burmese people that Senior General Than Shwe is a powerful ruler in modern times like Burmese kings of times past.

This is the fourth white elephant held in captivity in Burma. Three others are at Mindhamma Hill Park in suburban Rangoon, where they live in an enclosure with spiraled pavilions, a manmade waterfall, ponds, trees, and vegetation.