Beijing - An elephant rescued from smugglers in China has undergone a detoxification programme to cure it of heroin addiction, state media said on Thursday.
The 7-year-old male Asian elephant was scheduled to return to the south-western province of Yunnan this weekend after finishing its three-year rehabilitation programme on the southern island of Hainan, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The elephant, named Xiguang, became addicted after smugglers used heroin-smeared bananas to lure it and five other elephants across the border from Myanmar into Yunnan, the agency said.
Wildlife experts in Hainan gave Xiguang regular injections of methadone at five times the normal human dose, it said.