White elephant (animal)

A white elephant (also albino elephant) is a rare kind of elephant, but not a distinct species. Although often depicted as snow white, their skin is normally a soft reddish-brown, turning a light pink when wet.[1] They have fair eyelashes and toenails. The traditional "white elephant" is commonly misunderstood as being albino, but the Thai term chang samkhan, actually translates as 'auspicious elephant', being "white" in terms of an aspect of purity.[2]
White elephants are only nominally white. Of those currently kept by the Burmese rulers—General Than Shwe regards himself as the heir of the Burmese kings—one is grey and the other three are pinkish, but all are officially white. The king of Thailand also keeps a number of white elephants, eleven of which are still alive.[3] Former U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew once presented a white elephant to King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
Category:Animals
Category:Creatures