Talk:White elephant (animal)

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Time to unprotect[edit]

Now that the Colbert fiasco has died down a bit, I'd say it's time to unprotect this, as it's been three days now.--chris.lawson 22:52, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done. -- SCZenz 22:57, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Wikiality and Other Tripling Elephants for more coverage of the truthiness. --The Cunctator 07:11, 11 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have no ready reference for this but it is my understanding that when Thai royalty wanted to punish a member of the royal family (who couldn't be officially harmed), a royal white elephant was presented to them, burdening them with all of the expense and responsibility for its care.

This is similar to the English Royalty's method of punishing a member of the nobility by coming for a royal visit. Thus the object of the Royal ire could be burdened for up to a month of lavish entertaining with all the expense and efforts that would befit their royal guests.Bangalore007 17:26, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is an unsourced statement in the Thailand section that white elephants were sometimes given to those who could not afford their upkeep as a punishment. I have heard this story before, as the supposed derivation of the colloquial term for a useless and expensive project, but I have also heard that this story actually has no historical basis. Unfortunately, I don't recall where I heard this latter part. Is anyone able to confirm or deny the veracity of this claim? --Smcg8374 (talk) 13:38, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A video with a real white elephant[edit]

This site: [[1]] has a video with a real white elephant.Agre22 (talk) 00:11, 31 August 2008 (UTC)agre22[reply]

It's nice to have this reference to a video, but there should be a picture of a white elephant in the article. Caeruleancentaur (talk) 00:07, 24 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notability[edit]

Why is this article less notable than the slang term? Troodon58 18 September 2010 20:18 (UTC)

Cause[edit]

So SOME white elephants are such due to albinism but the article expressly states that not all are. So what are the reasons and causes for the rest? How specifically does the grading relate to these. Are only Asian elephants considered white elephants while albino African elephants might be more often pink? Is this a genetic mutation that could be bred? Do they live otherwise normal lives? All answers I'd expect to find here. Dlamblin (talk) 19:59, 12 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Burden[edit]

And honestly, a citation needed for the assertion that the giving of the animal as a gift was a burden? Can't you just use the same citation the whole Wikipedia page on that topic uses? Dlamblin (talk) 19:59, 12 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Content removed from White elephant[edit]

The following was removed from the White elephant article because it doesn't belong there, in an article about the English idiom. It could be incorporated here. --Paul_012 (talk) 21:38, 8 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Extended content

White elephants are linked to Hindu cosmology as the mount of Indra, king of the Vedic deities, is Airavata, a white elephant. White elephants are also intricately linked to Buddhist cosmology: the mount of Sakka's (a Buddhist deity and ruler of the Tavatimsa heaven) is a three-headed white elephant named Airavata.[1] Albino elephants exist in nature, usually being reddish-brown or pink.[2]

The tradition derives from tales that associate a white elephant with the birth of the Buddha, as his mother was reputed to have dreamed of a white elephant presenting her with a lotus flower, a common symbol of wisdom and purity, on the eve of giving birth.[3]


The Order of the White Elephant consists of eight grades of medals issued by the government of Thailand. There are also white elephants in Nepal.

References

  1. ^ Leider, Jacques P. (December 2011). "A Kingship by Merit and Cosmic Investiture". Journal of Burma Studies. 15 (2).
  2. ^ Morelle, Rebecca (20 March 2009). "Science & Environment | Pink elephant is caught on camera". BBC News. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. ^ "The Birth of Buddha | The New Kadampa Tradition (ºla)". Kadampa.org. Retrieved 14 April 2011.

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