Heroin-Addicted Elephant Went to Detox

I learned two new things today: 1) elephants can get addicted to heroin, and 2) there’s a detox program for doped up pachyderm!

An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin after being fed bananas spiked with the drug is to return home after undergoing a detox programme.

The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said. [...]

When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it was found to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms. The elephant’s eyes kept streaming and he made continuous trumpeting noises, the Beijing News newspaper’s website reported.

Link – Thanks amanda!