Guest guest Posted September 5, 2008 Report Share Posted September 5, 2008 BEIJING (Reuters) - A once drug-addled elephant fed heroin-laced bananas by illegal traders will return home after emerging clean from a three-year detox programme on China's tropical island province of Hainan. The four-year-old bull elephant, referred to alternately as " Big Brother " or " Xiguang " in state media reports, was captured in 2005 in southwest China by traders who used spiked bananas to control him. After police arrested the traders and freed Xiguang a few months later, the elephant was confirmed to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms and sent to a wild animal protection centre in Hainan for rehab, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. A year of methadone injections at five times the human dosage had helped wean Xiguang off his addiction. Now clean, Xiguang was expected to arrive on Saturday at a wildlife park in Kunming, capital of the elephant's home province of Yunnan on the mainland. Xiguang's return would cap a 1,500-km journey home, Xinhua said, and mark another step in the elephant's triumph over addiction. (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Nick Macfie) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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