Plastic shards pulled from the stomachs of two sick dolphins are shown in this picture taken on December 13, 2006. Bao Xishun, the world's tallest man successfully pulls plastic from the stomachs of two sick dolphins at an aquarium in Fushun, China's northern Liaoning province Wednesday. [CFP]

Shanghai - The world's tallest man has saved the lives of two dying dolphins in China by reaching deep into their stomachs to pull out pieces of plastic, official Chinese media reported on Thursday.

At an aquarium in the northeastern city of Fushun, doctors failed to remove the plastic with surgical instruments because the pieces were difficult to grasp, Xinhua news agency said. The arms of ordinary people were too short to reach the stomachs.

Bao Xishun, a 2.36 metre (7 foot 9 inch) herdsman who is listed by Guinness World Records as the tallest living man, was therefore summoned from the nearby Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, Xinhua reported.

In an operation shown on local television, a dozen men held the dolphins down while Bao slid his 1.06 metre (42 inch) long arm down their throats to grab the plastic. The dolphins are now recovering well, Xinhua said.

Bao, 55, reached his height in a seven-year growth spurt that began in his teens and which doctors cannot explain, according to Guinness. After a career in the army, where he was recruited for a basketball team, he returned to Inner Mongolia where he hires himself out for publicity stunts in addition to herding livestock.

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