You may be surprised to hear of animals becoming drug abusers, but for some elephants it really did happen.
Five wild Asia elephants have recovered from their drug addiction at southern China's Hainan Detoxification Centre, after two years' of rehabilitation, hinews reports.
The five elephants became addicted to drugs after eating narcotic bananas fed to them by illegal animal dealers at the China-Myanmar border. Police caught the dealers and the five addicted elephants were sent to local drug detoxification centre in southwest China's Yunan Province.
Restricted by technology and funds, the centre wasn't able to properly care the elephants and later they were transferred to a professional rehabilitation centre on Hainan Island.
Staff at the Hainan centre said initially weening the animals off their dependence on narcotics was hard. During the first three months, the elephants became fractious and were inclined to destroy things. Over the next year, staffs used medicine, special foods and communication to help the animals.
An official from the centre, Mr Liu, said Hainan's unique weather conditions and the elephants' perseverance played an important role in their successful recovery.
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