Global News - August 2007

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Former heroin addict elephant to be released into the wild

Fri 31 August 2007 12:15 UK — Asia

An elephant that was fed heroin-laced bananas by illegal traders in China is soon to be returned to the wild.

The China Daily newspaper reported that a bull elephant named Big Brother was caught by traders in 2005 in the Yunnan province, near the China-Myanmar border.

To keep the animal docile, the smugglers gave Big Brother food laced with heroin. As a result, the elephant soon developed an addiction to the dangerous drug.

However, the creature was rescued as local police caught the traders trying to sell the animals they had captured.

The addicted elephant was then transported to a nature park in the province of Hainan. There, Big Brother was weaned off the heroin by environmental experts. They used a combination of methadone, regular bathing and massage to help cure the creature.

Now drug-free, Big Brother is set to be reunited with other elephants in the wild. The paper reports that the elephant will soon be transported to the Xishuangbanna region to be released.

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