Elephant Beats Heroin Addiction

An elephant that was successfully weaned off its heroin addiction has been allowed to go home after three years in rehab.

The four-year-old Asian elephant named Xiguang - or Big Brother - by state media in China took part in a detox programme on the tropical island province of Hainan.

The pachyderm was captured by animal smugglers in 2005 and fed heroin-laced bananas so he could be controlled, according to Xinhua news agency.

Authorities caught up with the illegal traders and officials soon noticed there was something wrong with Xiguang.

The Beijing News website reported that his eyes kept streaming and he made continuous trumpeting noises.

Xiguang was eventually diagnosed as having heroin withdrawal symptoms and he was sent for treatment.

In rehab, the elephant was given methadone injections at five times the human dosage to cure his dependency.

The frequency of his shots was reduced after the first year as the elephant slowly bounced back.

After his three-year stint on the island, Xiguang was sent to a wildlife reserve in Kunming in south west China, the capital of the elephant's home province of Yunnan.

The Asian elephant is an endangered species, with fewer than 32,800 left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund.