China elephant balks on the wild side after detox

BEIJING (Reuters) - An elephant once addicted to heroin-laced bananas in China has kicked his habit but in the process has become unfit for the wild, state media said.

The four-year-old bull elephant, referred to alternately as "Big Brother" or "Xiguang," went through a lengthy rehab course after traders captured him in southwest China in 2005 and used spiked bananas to control him.

"Three years of domestic life and a huge amount of rehabilitation medicine have changed the physical situations, odours and habits of Xiguang," a Yunnan Wild Life Park manager was quoted as saying.

Xiguang will divide his time between two wild life parks in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Nick Macfie)