Basketball player saves dolphin

A marine park in China recruited a long-armed basketball player to help save a dying dolphin. The female dolphin, named Linda, had swallowed a plastic mat which had got stuck in her stomach.

Staff at the Hangzhou Polar Ocean Park, Zhejiang province, x-rayed Linda after she lost interest in her usual trick of stealing fish from a bucket at the waterside.

"She seemed very upset and had no appetite at all. We were worried she was ill," said a spokesman for the park.



Vets' tools could not reach into the dolphin's stomach so an appeal went out to the local sports bureau for help.

And retired basketball player Zhang Youliang, who is 7ft 1in tall and has arms more than a metre long, stepped forward. With the help of more than 10 staff, Zhang managed to reach into the dolphin's stomach and remove the mat at the second attempt.

Vets say Linda should now make a full recovery in about a week from the damage to her stomach.